Hikari no Tabi: An Amity Revived
by Violent Peaceful Child
Summary: Story One: The forgotten Saiya-jin of Bardock's crew are awakened from their eternal sleep, but does their companionship follow? [Completed]
1. Resurgence at Last!

Hikari no Tabi  
"An Amity Revived"

* * *

**Victoria's Note**: This is the first story to the "Hikari no Tabi" (translation: Journey of Light) series. As we all know, the song Hikari no Tabi was the ending song of "Tatahitori no Saisho Kesen" (Bardock TV Special), so ultimately this story is a sequel to the television special. That means the very little known characters will be used: Bardock's team: Panboukin, Celipa, Totepo, and Toma.  
There is violence, mild cursing, slaughter, and gore in the story. The censor mostly depends on the reader's imagination. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the story and anything you leave will be appreciated!  
_Revised as of February 12, 2001_

* * *

Chapter One  
Resurgence at Last!

The planet was in complete ruins. The buildings of the past were now rubble fallen to the ground. The plant life was burnt and had long since vanished. Battle scars left in the soil disappeared with the help of wind and precipitation --except for one. The inhabitants' dead bodies had decayed during time. The intruders' dead bodies now left only skeletons. Except for four. 

The one that they had once worked for had betrayed these Saiya-jin. Immediately after clearing out the life on Meatsei --the planet that had become a desolate graveyard-- they were murdered by the others of the traitor's minions. Only one managed to stay alive long enough to discover the reason. It wasn't good enough for him, but he did figure out that their employer wanted all of the Saiya-jin destroyed.

This man was Toma. He was a lucky one. He was the last of the four to die on the planet, but not the last Saiya-jin on this planet to be injured severely and not the last Saiya-jin on this planet to ever be on the planet. Along with finding out the treachery of Freeza, he managed to tell the leader of the small crew everything he knew before he died.

The other three members never knew the purpose of their demise. They had died with bewilderment and much less hatred than Toma had carried when he settled into eternal sleep. It was almost a pity that their last moments were much more violent than the lives they had once lived.

* * *

Just out of nowhere, one hand twitched. At first that was all it did, but if given a few more seconds, one could see life reappearing back to the planet. The hand flattened, stretching its fingers before they curled up into a ball. Dirt piled up in the core of the fist before it was released when the hand lifted less than ten millimeters into the air, loosening the Saiya-jin's grip. It came back down to the soil, with the other mimicking in motion. The body levitated five inches from the floor before it snapped up, making the two bodies on top of his roll off.

One foot planted itself to the ground, and the other followed a few instants later. Earth fell from the Saiya-jin's hands when he brought them up with the rest of his body. He straightened his back proudly and dropped his shoulders to a leveled position. His dark pupils started to scan the horizon before the circular duet trailed down to take notice of the Saiya-jin's deceased comrades.

Then the Saiya-jin froze. The only verbal response he could give was a single word.

"What?"

Panboukin was the first of the four to be killed, after all. Therefore his bemusement was understandable. He had not witnessed the deaths of the others and had died without knowing that his companions had been slaughtered as well. However, the lack of physical and mental response was not acceptable, especially for a man such as himself. During the past he always carried quick reflexes along with great speed. Now he was stalling for reasons unknown. By now he should have given more of a reaction!

Perhaps the other part of his confounded emotion was his resurrection. He knew that he had died, for that was clearly read across his face. There was nothing that came across the planet that could have possibly brought this overweight Saiya-jin back to life. In fact, Panboukin never even knew that resurrection was possible. Therefore, any other normal person would be just as confused as he was. What happened that allowed him to return in body, mind, and spirit? Would the same thing happen to the others?

He soon found out.

A small, agonized moan escaped from the female Saiya-jin's lips. Panboukin's shoulders fell in relief, but only the slightest imaginable. Like any other normal Saiya-jin, he wasn't about to let his true emotions show. Her body flinched, yet her eyes never fluttered. She rested in between the two other males, one's arm right across her chest and the other halfway underneath her. The men were face down while the front of her body was facing the sky.

Then, just as sudden as her movements of life, she rested. It was obvious she wasn't dead again; her chest was pumping up and down with exhaustion. Panboukin stepped around to his right to be above the young woman's head. He bent down and brought his arms underneath hers. He hauled her away from the limp bodies of the other two Saiya-jin. The only reply she made was another soft moan.

He pulled her up to the side of the elongated ditch so that her back would be resting against the dirt wall. He let go of her, knowing that she would be fine the way she was. Her armor had not been fixed along with the resurrection; the bottom left of it was dissolved from whatever it was that killed her. Or perhaps harshly weakened her during the fight. Her clothing was singed, and her hair was ruffled. It certainly must have been a tough battle for her.

The image of her sitting on the ground unconsciously made him look down at his own dented body. No parts were missing, nor have the others' bodies. His clothing was ripped, and his armor was damaged like his female companion. But the blood --the blood that should have been sprinkled about their bodies was nowhere to be found. Every one of the four Saiya-jin should have had an extensive amount of blood loss after their battle, but apparently even that was repaired. The bewilderment rose in the air although he was the only one alive, conscious, and moving.

She made a noise again, but this time it was a small murmur. Panboukin immediately took notice and sat on the undamaged ground right next to her. She cringed again, and her eyes blinked open. She stared at the landscape in front of her for a couple minutes, but did not allow Panboukin to know that she was awake during that time. Her eyes caught the dead bodies of the other two men; however, her blank expression never wavered. She sighed and turned her head slightly to her left.

Celipa was pleased to see that at least one of her comrades was alive along with her.

"I see that those assassins didn't do a good as job as they were meant to do," she said, unable to stand the silence any longer.

"Celipa, we **did** die. I thought you were much more intelligent then that."

She shook her head and laughed quietly under her breath. "Was that the best comeback you could come up with? I see death has changed you a bit." She ceased her talk for a short instant, before she tentatively continued on. "How did you enjoy your time in Hell?"

If Panboukin had thought that he could not have been more abashed than before, then he was stood corrected. "Hell? You actually had some time in the afterlife?"

She hastily made a reply. "Of course I did. Why? You haven't?" A negative response came from Panboukin. "Huh. I see. Pity; you missed out on all the fun."

There was a hint of sarcasm in her words. She didn't even seem disappointed that she left the afterlife. Of course, these two had been companions for a while, so he knew better than to question her about it. "Like I care much. What matters now is that I am alive and well again. Are those bastards still hanging around?"

"If they are," she growled menacingly, "then I would more than happy to give them a piece of my mind."

He agreed silently. However, there was more vengeance in her voice and worn on her face than he carried in his spirit. Celipa's dark pupils moved from Panboukin to both men to their right. Her hands balled into tight fists, one eye was scrunched and her mouth pulled into the deepest frown. A tinge of a crimson puddle started to seep through her white gloves before she released her hold. The center of her palm continued to bleed.

Panboukin glanced her way to check her response. When he caught her signs of hatred and anger, he planted a reassuring hand on her shoulder. In a syncopated motion, she swiveled her head to meet his eye. He did not notice the blood in her hands. "If we were revived, then why shouldn't Toma and Totepo come back to life? What makes us any more special than them?"

Celipa stood and gracefully wiped off some of the dirt that had attached to her. She glared at Panboukin and announced something that had not been the topic of the previous conversation, "We didn't die in this position. That much I know." After that she started down the only possible way to go if she was to follow the trail of the ditch.

Panboukin just watched her go without making a move to stop or follow her. There was a theory amongst the Saiya-jin men: females always have a ridiculous reason for almost everything they do. It was best not to ask any questions whatsoever.

* * *

**_You really shouldn't have done it._**  
It was the least I could do.  
_**That was not smart.**_  
How was it not smart? Aren't I doing them a favor?  
_**No.**_  
You are always so negative. Don't you see the good this will bring?  
**_To whom? The universe or the devil?_**  
Why are you on my back?  
**_Because you could get into some serious trouble. You know that. Do you want to get sent to Hell before--_**  
I do not have to deal with this right now. But if you tell anybody...!  
**_For your sake I won't. But if they get the same attitudes they had back when they were alive..._**  
They won't. Trust me. I have this all figured out.  
**_If you say so._**

* * *

"Damn it!" Panboukin hissed through his teeth. "Why is it taking so long?!"

Totepo said nothing in response.

There were two events that both Saiya-jin were anticipating. There was still one Saiya-jin left to be resurrected, if he was to be resurrected at all. That man was Toma. His body was still in the crevice, where Celipa had walked down sometime ago. She had not yet returned. Both of the Saiya-jin were plenty worried, but neither of them bothered to let the other know.

Panboukin kept mumbling curses under his breath along with some gibberish that couldn't be made out. Keeping his reputation, Totepo remained silent, never uttering a word. Instead, he seemed a little calm for a situation like this; his face made little movements, and his body was almost perfectly still. If one were able to get into his emotions, however, they would see he was really in a worse state than Panboukin was at the moment.

"Is there one good reason why he shouldn't be alive right now?" Panboukin asked although he knew no one was going to answer verbally. He could care less if Totepo had actually heard what he was saying with intense thought. He wasn't going to answer either way.

Since there was a terrible lack of plant life on the planet, heavy winds rocked the planet harder than ever before. It was a true wasteland. It caused no bother to the Saiya-jin; they were facing the same way the wind was blowing. Still, whenever the sand hit it stung, even for one of these muscular aliens. It pierced the skin so much it bled. However, their deaths allowed the two Saiya-jin to withstand the pain easily.

Panboukin, losing a strand of patience every passing minute, stormed to the body of the sub-leader. He found it convenient to turn Toma facing up since Totepo had a bit of a hard time getting up once life returned to him. He looked down at the face of the most easy-going person besides himself known to the Saiya-jin race. The smirk was still there. Nothing had changed since the last time he checked. Or the time before that. It was obvious to him now that the sub-leader was the only one not to be revived.

"Come on Totepo, let's go," Panboukin called towards the tall Saiya-jin as he started down the direction Celipa had gone. "We had been wasting our time here. Let's catch up with Celipa. Maybe she's actually doing something worthwhile."

Totepo didn't argue. As Panboukin sped off towards Celipa's direction, Totepo strode towards Toma. He stood over his body and mumbled a small farewell to the Saiya-jin who had been the closest companion to Bardock than the others have been. Then he, too, walked off, leaving the body of Toma behind with the knowledge that he would most likely never be able to experience life ever again.

* * *

Check out the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com/



	2. Contemplating the Past

Chapter Two  
Contemplating the Past

The deep ditch seemed to go on for an eternity, but the female was able to walk without ennui. For one thing, she was lost in thought, which was a rare event for her. Another reason was that the desolate planet caused many disasters tiny and large. Usually she would be used to the heat any planet produced, but her skin now had a sensitive touch. The warmth was overwhelming, and her pores spewed sweat out as a result.

The wind was no help to cool her down. In fact, if she had a choice between tolerating the heat or the wind, she would choose the heat. It was no different from what the other two males were experiencing; however, there was one exception. She was walking against the wind, not with it. It caused pain, but she was capable enough to withstand it. The tolerance was in her Saiya-jin blood and pride.

Despite her ambition to ignore the weather condition of Meatsei --her squinted eyes and the arm in front of them to shield it-- there was one pain that could not be prevented. Memories returned to her. A certain memory in particular was one that she would not want to remember.

* * *

_Success. Easily finished. Mission completed. There was only a meager wave of satisfaction, for all four Saiya-jins thought the mission too easy. It didn't seem to matter with Celipa, however. She still displayed a Saiya-jin-ish pleased expression on her face. She was by herself, strolling around, observing the team's success. But she wasn't stupid; she knew that as a whole, perhaps even individually, they could take on inhabitants ten times stronger and more stubborn than these Meatsei-jin._

_She was bored and yearned for home; thus, she didn't hesitate at all to blast off towards the north. The wind passed through her hair as she flew, and her face turned dreadfully serious. There was a question why, which she didn't know herself._

_Quickly, she landed once her companions had been spotted. Her white boots made a tiny tapping noise as she did, as her toe came down first, the heel followed immediately. She was just in front of the other two, her back to them. For she also caught notice of four new people on the planet that bore threatening smirks upon their faces. It was a little too fishy for her taste._

_"Celipa, hold your ground," Toma instructed from behind her. He sounded --to put it lightly-- very pissed off. She did not turn her head to look at him; with the tone of voice he used, she knew that this situation was too risky to take her eyes off of. "They killed Panboukin."_

_"They did?" She answered as she glared at the four with a nasty scowl. Yet, a tinge of hope gleamed in her eyes; maybe she would be able to get into a good and challenging fight, despite the other workers of Freeza's intent. "Those bastards."_

_It was audible enough for the four others to hear. A rumble came from them, one that hit the discomfort point of the Saiya-jins' nerves. Several taunts effortlessly escaped their lips, and made Celipa lower herself to prepare to attack. But she didn't. Not yet anyhow. She waited for the right moment to attack, which came two seconds later when she felt the rush of air from the two males when they sped past her. Wasting no time, she followed, and a massive fight began._

_It ended once the group broke back into two: the non-Saiya-jin landed safely to their feet while the Saiya-jin crashed to their back, stomach, or side. The three Saiya-jin staggered to their feet, and dark red liquids escaped the imprisonment of their skin. Celipa's armor was broken, for a piece of the backside was torn apart from the rest of the armor. Her scouter had fallen to the ground with the lens cracked, but it was not visible to the aliens._

_"Let's finish off one of them already," one of the assassins announced. He really meant to do it himself, however. Unfortunately, Celipa knew who his victim was once he outstretched his arm towards the Saiya-jin._

_When a luminous light escaped from the palm of his hand, Celipa did not respond. She could not respond, for she was not given enough time. The blistering ray of light impacted into her torso, and threw her back into the Saiya-jin behind her._

_He grabbed her once she crashed into him, and right then she knew immediately who it was. The gauntlets and the cerulean cloths underneath were enough to tell her. However, she only saw them for a split second, for she closed her eyes while the life drained from her body. Too soon could she only hear his voice: a voice of concern. She felt guilty to leave him the way she was. But there wasn't anymore time left for her to show any emotion, to think anything else, to say a single word. Her body sagged in his arms while his voice grew fainter and fainter along with the enemies' sneers._

_Then she died._

* * *

"Damn it!"

Celipa clenched her fists in absolute anger and continued the drama as she dropped to her knees. Shortly afterwards, an infuriated fist made hard contact with the earth. All of a sudden, her other hand flew to the border of her clothing and the jagged armor. The sharp edges had stabbed her abdomen and chest. Blood trailed out and became a dark, crimson stain on her clothes and glove.

She looked down at her belly curiously; the anger seemed to have faded away at the little pain she felt. Her hand came off the new wound, but an index finger instantly replaced it. She tapped the cuts several times before it was joined with three other fingers as they lightly brushed the tiny wounds. She kept that up for a few more moments before she gripped the bottom edge of the armor. With the other hand grabbing the other side, she gracefully pulled the armor up and over her head. She threw it to the side against remains of a building. Much to her disappointment, it quickly broke into several pieces.

"Not very durable anymore," she murmured to herself, slowing shaking her head in disappointment.

She stood up and looked down at her knees. "For the looks," she muttered. She brought her leg up and twisted it vertically so that her ankle rested comfortably on her thigh. She carefully lifted the armored part of the knee guard and slid it down her leg and over her foot. She dropped it to the ground before doing the same with the other knee guard.

After the second guard made a hard, hollow knock with the other once it impacted each other, the yellow rag on her left leg fell to be in the same way the right cloth was, except a tad more visible. She sighed heavily, and knew that this was going to cause discomfort if she didn't do something. She sat on a nearby rock and quickly took off the cloths, for she didn't want to waste any more time than she already had.

What was she looking for?

* * *

Five minutes later, a tiny obstacle came in her the way of her hike. It was not moving, dangerous, or something that could be spotted ten feet away. It was a hard, shell-like object, yet extremely fragile from years of precipitation, wind, and stray dust floating from absolutely nowhere. The green painting was dirtied, and the color was faded. A gray piece of torn fabric was pinned down by the smoked white edge, surprisingly haven't been moved though the edge was so smooth. It just fluttered with the wind while it was caught.

Celipa's shadow was cast over it, as if she was preparing to strike. Her form showed it well; hands placed firmly on her hips while her legs were only a shoulder's width apart. Her toes were pointed slightly in opposite directions, facing away from her body. Her head was hung down, gaping at the shred of armor that was placed in front of her.

She cautiously knelt, her body supported only by the balls of her feet. One hand rested across her thighs, the other out while it lightly tapped the titanium material. She grabbed the other end of it, which had sharp edges from that particular edge having been chopped off. It was not as sharp as her armor had been, so her skin wasn't pricked by the damaged armor. She lifted the armor from the ground and stood.

The piece of cloth clung to the hard metal merely by a single strand. When she placed her hand over it, her thumb underneath, it detached instantly. It lay limp in her left hand; for a long while she did nothing but stare, letting her eyes be directed from one object to the other.

Suddenly, a hand came out and snatched the yellow rags she had underneath her arms. It roughly slid out of her grasp, and her skin burned a little from the friction. She twisted her head as far as she could --which wasn't very far if one were to think about it-- and there stood Panboukin with a self-satisfied smirk. He was clutching the old cloths in his left hand. His eyes dared her to try to grab them back, but she knew exactly how to do it without looking like a fool.

Bringing her entire body around to face him, she tucked the piece of armor and the gray fabric underneath her arm. She put her right hand up in front of her, her palm faced the sky while fingers curled with a two centimeter space between each. She then put on her most serious expression, showing no signs of amusement anywhere in her eyes. His smirk was wiped off immediately; he handed her leggings back.

"You're no fun," he complained once they were back in her hands safely. She curled her fingers around them before dropping her arm to her side.

"If you want fun, I can give it to you," she snapped in return. "Whether you want it or not."

"Since when did I **not** want any fun?"

Before she could answer, Totepo descended beside the other male. He wore his well-known lack of expression. She lifted a corner of her mouth up slightly, quite pleased that there was another resurrected. However, the smirk dispersed once she noticed that there was one missing, when no one followed Totepo, and no one in the distance. "Where's Toma?"

Panboukin shrugged as if it were an everyday occurrence. "He's still dead. And he's not coming back, that's for sure." Automatically switching to a different subject, he quickly took notice of the materials underneath the female's arm. "What do you got there?"

"Something quite interesting I found," she answered. For one split second, she felt distraught with the knowledge that a close companion of hers was not going to be revived. Then she went back to her regular self as she handed the objects to either one of them. Panboukin jerked both of them away, and surveyed each intently. "Look familiar to you?"

He stared up back at her, his joking eyes vanished. His pupils darted to Totepo before he sidestepped, so both of them could see him well, and so he could eye both of them. Thrusting the hand with the armor and fabric in front of Totepo, he announced with a very bemused tone of voice, "I--it's impossible. It can't be-"

Totepo only had to look at the objects to understand. With his expressionless face, he said the simple word that they were thinking. No, not word. Name. "Bardock."

* * *

Check out the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com/



	3. Pieces of the Puzzle

Chapter Three  
Pieces of the Puzzle 

**_Sure. Bring all of them back except for the most important one._**  
Why are you on my side now?  
_**Well, you're in enough trouble as it is. Might as well not let this go undone.**_  
You just want to get me busted, don't you?  
_**I thought you said to never leave a job unfinished. That's what you are doing right now.**_  
I'm too worn out.  
_**You're pathetic.**_  
Ah, so you _do_ want me to get into trouble! ... Wait a second. 'Most important one'? He is no more special than the others.  
_**I wish you would've realized that a long time ago. Well, are you going to revive him or what?**_  
I can't. I'm sorry, but I just... can't.

* * *

Darkness started to settle around them. It was almost amazing that there was actually still nightfall. Without life, the clouds did not allow any light to penetrate to the galaxy. All the heat and light stayed within the planet. That was not the case with this planet though. Heat stayed, light escaped. It must be the type of clouds Meatsei produced. Either that or it was the stamina of light energy of the nearby star. Whatever it was that allowed full days and nights, it helped the Saiya-jin with time management.

They had been walking for a long time, going down the long crevice. Panboukin often complained about having to walk when they knew how to fly, but Celipa pointed out that if they wanted good, solid answers, they had to take the long way. She always ended the bickering with the invitation: "If you want to fly, go ahead. But do you know exactly where we're going?" It was enough to shut him up about the subject for about an hour before he complained about it again.

Her point was made clear whenever they passed by an object of the past. It was always a piece of armor. Sometimes it wasn't Bardock's. In fact, only half of the time was it their old commander's shred of attire they found. The other half was their tiny pieces of armor that they found. It told a story, which the group would keep to themselves until the very end.

Luckily or unluckily, the end was drawing nearer. The ditch was narrowing as the trio progressed inch-by-inch. It brightened up their spirits, and their pace started to gradually quicken with every five to ten steps. The frequency of complaints died down with every passing line left in the soil. However, Celipa was the only observant one while the trip continued. She was the one who discovered most of the debris, and she was the first one to notice something unlike the other artifacts. Something quite peculiar.

Without saying a word to the two men, she sidestepped immediately to the edge of the trail. She lightly stepped outside of the crevice and walked towards the object silently. She didn't retreat unnoticed. The two males ceased their hike when Panboukin turned his head to say something to her. Perhaps another protest. It didn't matter; he saw her interrupt the moderate tempo of the walk --although they had been speeding little by little-- and demanded to know what caused her sudden change of interest. There was a silent agreement with the two men: best follow her rather than ask questions.

Right when they caught up to her, Celipa halted. They were only two steps behind her, one on each of her sides, and observed what she saw. She did nothing and said nothing. She merely stared at the emaciated structure before her with her arms folded aesthetically beneath her breastbone. Totepo shared her emotion that was shown on her face: a cold expression while he stood in the same position as she. He, too, kept silent.

However, Panboukin was downright surprised and bewildered. He made no attempt at all to hide it. "What the hell...?"

The figure in front of them was a gruesome sight for the weak eyes stomach. It was something seen almost everyday in the average Saiya-jin life, just not as revealing. It used to be a living being, but the flesh was half-eaten away. All that was left were a few entrails almost vanished and the bones that were still in place. The form of the body was in a pained position, as if he had more bones broken than bones in his body. His skull had a huge gash at the side of it. His armor was cracked and was buried at least a centimeter underneath dust.

The Saiya-jin knew who this was. Well, not exactly who; they couldn't name who this creature used to be. But they knew that he was one of the assassins that had killed them. He had been a light purplish creature, a quite common being to find in the Planet Trade. He had not killed any of the three Saiya-jin on the planet now, which they considered a very lucky thing. To be killed by this creature would have been a disgrace.

"Something happened," Celipa murmured under her breath, just barely audible to her two companions. She just had to say something to break the silence of astonishment, despite the foolishness the line produced. There had been a thirty-second gap of stillness ever since Panboukin announced his surprise, and she just couldn't stand the noiseless atmosphere.

"Bardock was here, wasn't he?" Panboukin answered. However, neither of the two looked at him, for they knew he was actually leading to a point. "He's supposed to be stronger than all of us by at least a thousand points. He could've easily killed this asshole."

"True," she replied simply, without straying her eyes away from the skeletal body. Finally, after forty seconds longer of reticence, she moved her foot to the side and walked alongside the ditch instead of inside of it.

"Come on," she instructed, walking away with the normal, expressionless face that she had claimed for herself ever since resurrection, "we're not going to make any more progress if we just stand here."

Agreeing with the female, the two males followed, knowing that --like she had been the past few hours-- she was correct.

* * *

_The setting sun. Crimson skies. A desolate planet. Demolished buildings. Perfectly still weather. Vengeance burning within the victim. All genuine elements for the upcoming battle. The prediction had been --at the beginning-- a very short fight, the Saiya-jin killed immediately. Things didn't quite turn out the way the assassins predicted._

_Drifting in the air, the amphibious alien took it upon himself to finish the brown-tailed being off. He assumed that it would only take two attacks to take the Saiya-jin out of the living world. First, the left hand jet out in front of him, sending a ray of light towards the ground. It was the assumed location of the victim. Wasting no time, the right hand did the mirror image of the left hand's previous actions in the same direction._

_Once the explosion of the two bombs had been seen and heard, he smirked and chuckled with triumph. Too easy, in his opinion. At least the others had been much more of a challenge, although he never really slain any of them. He didn't feel disgruntled though. He finally had his chance to do his job, his duty, to one of them._

_However, his celebration came two seconds too soon. The tiny, green-tinted compact computer that was held on his left ear and over his left eye started to respond to a source of a being right over his head. Wide-eyed, he snapped his head up. Bemusement quickly transformed into horror as he saw his doom looming over him._

_The Saiya-jin himself did not hesitate at all to attack. The emotion of revenge was well expressed on his face: a tight frown, infuriated eyes... a worse than deadly scowl. His arms were brought up beyond his head, the forearms and wrists just behind his skull. His fists were clasped together in a firm fist, and his next move was well predicted. The fish-like creature had no time to defend himself._

_Both of the Saiya-jin's arms arched over his head, and then the fists smashed into the purple alien's skull. The scouter broke into tiny little pieces upon impact, automatically flying off of his head. No one has ever realized how delicate a skull can be, for his head seemed to have compacted together. The lifeless body plummeted down towards the earth, calling the battle to the Saiya-jin's favor at the moment._

_But the other assassins have still yet to attack..._

* * *

In a mere fifteen minutes, more events had occurred than expected. The three revived Saiya-jin had reached the end of the crevice right when the planet was completely filled with darkness. There had been a passing tornado, but it never came too close to the monument of "The War of Revenge". It appeared near enough to the trio to make them have to shield their eyes, but it never hit them. Was it a miracle? Or was it just a coincidence that the cyclone never came near and disturbed the placement of each artifact?

It didn't matter to the Saiya-jin. The element that had caught their attention was their death site, where they had been betrayed and murdered. Their little band had separated to inspect the landscape, each with their own bewilderment and interest. All had memories flooding back into their minds when they approached the exact place where they had died, whether they wanted it to or not.

The flashback of the female's death was the same one that had returned to her during her lone hike at the beginning, during the time she was trying to avoid the pain the sharp, flying dirt that had hit her. She hated the event, hated having to die the way she did with the emotions she felt. It hurt, but there was nothing she could do about it. The only thing she could do was hide it the way the two men were skillfully doing.

Totepo remained silent, never uttering a sound while he reflected on his death, the battle, the deaths of the others, and the sneers worn on the assassins' faces. He had done the most wandering, inspecting everything he could. He was amazed to see that some of the crew's blood had permanently stained on the rubble that they caused. There were no red fluids across the gravel, but that was expected. Perhaps the materials used by the inhabitants to create these buildings were the cause. Or perhaps this was something he never knew before, too ignorant to pay attention to.

No matter. It wasn't too important anyway.

Panboukin disregarded his flashback as if it was an annoying fly, and told himself it wasn't anything worth his time to worry about. In fact, after he walked around the border of the battlefield, he approached Totepo, already with his bored expression. He had passed his death site on the way, but he ignored it the way he ignored his brutal memory.

"Well, there's nothing interesting here," Panboukin announced to him, looking absolutely disgusted. "You want to get off this sorry planet and go home?"

Before Totepo could respond --he was actually considering to do so-- the armor-less woman approached them with the same attitude as Panboukin had. Except the first thing she said was nothing of boredom or disinterest. "Amazingly enough, nothing has changed as I remembered it. Just without the dead body of Panboukin," she added with a badinaged smirk.

"Shut up," Panboukin snapped, not in the mood to be teased. Celipa laughed quietly in response, the first gesture of pure delight anyone has shown since resurrection. He snarled, and then moved back to what he was trying to get an answer for earlier. "Anyone up for going back to Vegetasei?"

The chuckles having left the petite woman, she shrugged and shook her head. "There's nothing left for us here. We might as well."

Totepo silently nodded his agreement. The decision was unanimous. The Saiya-jin took off towards the direction of where they remembered leaving their pods, the monument now only a scarce reminder drilling in the back of their minds.

* * *

Check out the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com/



	4. The Resurrector's Trial

Chapter Four  
The Resurrector's Trial

This time the process was not going as smoothly or as quickly as predicted or as planned. But it was happening. Slowly, yes, but surely. There had been a few times when the Resurrector lost the other's regained sense after reviving the rest of them. So for a while he gave up, so he could rest. Retrieve his energy. He started all over again from scratch immediately after he noticed the sudden demand to.

The easiest way to do this was to revive the mind first. It would be painful emotionally, even for a Saiya-jin. The Resurrector hoped that he would be able to handle it. It shouldn't take much longer to bring his spirit back once the mind was conscious. The main trouble would exist within the resurrection of the body. It was too much detail to go into. Individual cells, their organelles, the organs, and the organ systems were all part of the resurrection. Considering this, it'd probably be best to either abandon the project or delay it for a while, just until he received his stamina back.

But no. He could delay if he seriously desired to. But upon seeing what the others were up to, it was out of the question. They needed the last Saiya-jin for help, guidance, and moral support. They probably couldn't care less if he was alive again, but for some reason, the Resurrector knew that with the sub-leader around, their strength would be much stronger than it was now. Reasons unexplained, once again.

The Resurrector concentrated, and he concentrated hard. This was one of the most important steps in his procedure. The distance from this portion of the afterlife to the devastated planet wasn't too large, so of course that made the process easier. Still, his head hurt enough from the previous attempts, but this time he will not allow it to get to him and make him quit. There was no time to waste.

He inhaled a large amount of air. He then probed through the sub-leader's memories. It was more than enough to retrieve information he never knew of this Saiya-jin, in some cases he regretted tapping into. Some were very intriguing, and he strived for more immediately. What had been painstaking work before had become a relaxing experience for the Resurrector. He didn't feel the least bit guilty for prying into one's personal life with pleasure, but he couldn't help himself. It was too interesting to not have the slightest sense of curiosity.

When the last few moments of the Saiya-jin's life had been reached and over with, the Resurrector immediately went back to the somewhat touching moment of his death. After replaying that strand of memory, he smiled to himself. Perhaps he should revive the sub-leader for his heroic words and what he had to go through, what his last emotions were, rather than the amount of help he would be to his comrades.

Afterwards, he viewed the Saiya-jin's memories all over again, hoping he didn't leave any elements out. His earliest childhood memory, to the first few moments of the academy, to his first meeting with his to-be amazingly great companions, to his first mission with them, all the way up to his final moment. The Resurrector never knew how far the mix of easy-going and brutal a life could be until now.

The smile on his face grew wider. Now he could proceed with the spirit's resurrection. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would be.

* * *

Complete, absolute darkness. There was nothing at all. Blank. The only imagery surrounding him was a black blanket with no light penetrating to his senses. His feelings matched his blindness. Nothing. Just more proof that Saiya-jin are not emotionless; if they were, they could not feel pain. Could not enjoy life. Could not be phased with even the biggest ordeal met with the galaxy. Everything was just a vacant lot.

He was aware of it. But there was nothing he could do. There wasn't even a desire to do anything to cure the ebon surroundings. So he just stayed perfectly still, nothing ever moving.

All of a sudden, it seemed as if he snapped. There was a hasty wave of excitement. Excitement of what, exactly? He didn't know. That just lead to the next emotion: confusion. Then he figured that he became excited for something daring to happen. Complacent took place of the bemusement, but it was still there.

For some reason, a self-satisfied expression can automatically turn into anger, a wish to break free of this inactive prison, and finally into impatience. The right emotions came at the time he needed it the most. He understood that he must get out of the lack of life, though he was living again. That piece of information was confirmed. He knew he died, he remembered everything that occurred to him during his lifetime.

That was his light, his source of entertainment, his only retreat to freedom. Memories that were thought to have been lost when all trace of his existence were wiped out returned to him once he willed it to. He couldn't answer the question why he wanted those feelings he had felt back then to return to him, those visions. Perhaps somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that it was the only way for him to be safe from the surrender of omission.

But there was one problem with this. Although he was animated in his mind and his spirit, he wasn't quite yet to the full extent of the word "living". To onlookers, he was still dead. The reason was quite simple: he wasn't breathing, wasn't moving, and all the organs in his body were idle.

* * *

The Resurrector shook his head in absolute annoyance. It was back to the "grand" old list of the details to finish the job. It didn't seem much: only nine categories. But within those categories were more categories, each going down to each different cell that had a different task. It was too tiring, too useless. He had to do this now, though. He has come this far and to stop now would be like saying, "I quit".

And if he were to quit, his ego would be ruined. Especially if no one found out.

There was almost too much here to do, and they were all very boring. He then started to contemplate that he should have done this part first, then worry about the mind and spirit later. Then his customer wouldn't be in the pain he was in now. Well, what was past was past, and there was no chance in Hell he was going to start all over again. While it felt like an hour in the living world, it had really been practically a week among the dead people.

For the Saiya-jin, it could have seemed like a whole eternity.

He stared at the piece of laminated cardboard, reading over the names of the organ systems. Circulatory, digestive, respiratory, reproductive, neurological, endocrine, lymphatic, integumentary, the eyes, nose, ears, and throat, and the muscular and skeletal systems were all listed. Some he really wanted to get rid off, for his own sake and for the Saiya-jin's. For example, the digestive system. He could make things easier on him and not make him have an appetite or a want for food. Or can't have food, for that matter? He thought hard about this and he finally came to the conclusion that the digestive system was still very important.

He understood why the circulatory system was the first on the list. It was the most important part. During the first part of resurrecting them all, he had regained their normal blood amount immediately to every single one of them. There were to be no scars left from the final battle they fought, no increase or decrease in blood prior to their war. Since that step had already been completed, he went to the next step. The regeneration of the Saiya-jin's heart.

First thing was first, he had to start the pumping of the atriums, forcing the blood to go in and out of the aortas, arteries, veins, everything that was connected. It leads straight into the respiratory system, so more oxygen could be distributed for this to proceed without his help. It took time, effort, and a large spill of sweat. Literally.

Once finished with those two systems, getting the sub-leader to breathe regularly, he decided that he should go back to the second bulleted item on the list since he skipped it when going from circulatory to respiratory. Digestive system. Meaning that the esophagus, stomach, and intestines had to be working properly. Enzymes had been around since the beginning of the entire resurrection process, so that also made the workload lighter.

He wasn't sure if he was quite finished yet, like the others. He wouldn't until they actually sat down and ate something, which quite amazingly, has not occurred yet. He completed the digestive system the exact same way as the others, so if there were a flaw, it would be easily corrected among all of them instead of having to do this entire thing all over again. He would not enjoy that at all.

Reproductive system. He decided to get back to that one later.

Oh yes, the neurological system. The one that deals with the brain and the nerves. Sensory details were coming into play, as this was also a very important part. The brain was active as far as personality and emotions go. Knowledge was easily resurrected in thirty seconds. That wasn't bad, considering that geniuses that are revived take usually a minute or more for their knowledge to get all the way back fully. The nerves were a bit tricky, and he knew he messed up with the female's. Her skin was a little more fragile than it used to be. But he was extra careful now so the same thing wouldn't happen with the sub-leader.

Endocrine, lymphatic, and integumentary systems were the easiest to complete. Among the three, however, the craftiest one was the integumentary. The other half of the female's skin came from a mess-up of the integumentary system, making it thinner than normal. Thinner than necessary. Again, he took better precautions with the other males.

Muscular and skeletal were taken care of immediately. It wasn't too hard since his muscles never softened over time. And somehow, someone managed to preserve his as well as the other three bodies with special care so the resurrection could become easier. And it wasn't the Resurrector himself. Instead, it was his lover, who had helped him gain this position immediately after he died.

The Resurrector cringed as he thought about doing the reproductive system next. It was required whenever a revival occurred, but he couldn't just bring himself out to do it. This would be his third time, and if twice was bad enough...

He shuddered again, but knew he had to suck it up. Although the reproductive system was not a necessity of life, if the Saiya-jin race were to live on as a purebred race, then this was especially required. He knew it was true, so he just let his mind zonk out while he worked. There were no risks of messing up at all. A real advantage to this task.

* * *

Check out the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com/



	5. Reunion Gone Horrific

Chapter Five  
Reunion Gone Horrific

Four perfectly shaped craters stood aligned in a single filed row. It was an amazing sight to see, considering that the team usually landed quite a distance from one another. Sometimes the mileage was so great that they just went ahead and destroyed their part of the planet by themselves and met up with the rest of the crew later during the week or month or whenever the deadline was. Of course, there were many times when they finished a planet ahead of schedule. Like on Kanassasei; that planet was given to them to take out in seven weeks. The job was completed in a mere two weeks.

The three did not marvel at the perfect alignment of their pods. Currently, all they cared about was to return back to their homes on Vegetasei and to receive answers for themselves of why they were killed. Why were they targeted for the assassins' victims?

Celipa was the first to walk away from the group, having her own thoughts in her head. Panboukin saw her movements and mimicked them. He quickly told Totepo, "See you back home," before he headed towards his pod. The seven-foot tall man had already been on his way.

They were headed for opposite directions: the woman headed to the left towards two craters, the further one hers; Panboukin aimed for the crater right in front of him, and Totepo went to a solitary ditch to the right. Celipa had further to walk. Her face read expressionless until the moment of surprise caught her attention.

A blurred figure moved from the sky and dove straight for her. She didn't notice; she was too tired and worn out; plus, she no longer wore a scouter. Her left side was exposed to the figure's eyes, thus making the situation ten times better. Two arms jerked in front of the body, and Celipa found herself off her feet once she felt their touch. She accidentally yelped before she landed safely into the arms underneath her.

The other two men turned their heads towards her direction immediately when they heard her small outburst of surprise. Their eyes had already adjusted to the night sky of the planet, but they only saw shadows of two people: their female companion and someone they could not distinguish that instant. The newcomer had the young woman cradled in his arms, but he let her down while breaking out into a guffaw. Celipa muttered something back to him that made him laugh harder and louder before he commented, "You were always one to easily be surprised when you're not paying attention. Face it, it was your fault."

The two males exchanged a small smirk to one another. Rather, Panboukin gave the other a smirk. Totepo just nodded in response. They knew who that person was now. They knew only one other person besides Panboukin who could carry a lively spirit as big as this.

When the two men floated towards them, they saw that Celipa did not appreciate the surprise greeting the man at her right side had given to her. She held an irritated scowl with her arms folded in annoyance. Her rags were sprawled on the ground from when she lost her grip at the instant of the assault. Toma, on the other hand, gloated still after he noticed Panboukin and Totepo approach them. He laughed in joy just by the sight of them.

Panboukin waved the snickering aside, but the corner of his mouth lifted and burrowed itself into his cheek. "It took you long enough, don't you think?"

Toma shrugged in response. His chortling simmered down to a light chuckle under his breath as he forced himself to taunt, "I'm surprised you weren't-- ah, never mind. You were never patient, so why am I wasting my breath?"

"Because you've never been happier to see us," Celipa piped up, allowing her priggish smirk to show up. She bent down to retrieve her leggings. Quickly she popped back up, and placed her hands firmly on her hips with the rags limping from her left hand. It was at that point when Toma noticed something different about her.

"What happened to your armor?" he inquired, arching a brow at her newly discovered attire.

She shook her head with amusement, her half-smile still holding out. "You're the first one to notice so far. Sad, because those two," she snapped her head at the Panboukin and Totepo, heavily emphasizing the last two words, "didn't notice. And I've been with them for at least three or four hours already." Panboukin was about to protest, but she beat him to the spotlight. "Either that or they didn't want to make a comment about it. What do you think?"

"I think Totepo just didn't want to say any-"

"The **outfit**, Toma."

"-thing about it. Panboukin probably didn't notice. As for the outfit, well, it looks," he trailed off while he attempted to come up with a word without sounding flirtatious. That would surely be used against him later. He quickly stole a glance to the others, and saw that Panboukin dared him to say it with the gleam in his eyes. The sub-leader grumbled, and then decided his words, turning down the dare, "Take off your gloves, and then I'll decide."

At first she just stared at him bluntly, a small twist of a glare in her right eye. She kept it up for approximately three seconds before she tucked her yellow, singed leggings underneath her arm. She delicately pinched the tip of her left index finger with her right hand and pulled the glove off, and then proceeded with the other side. She placed the rags and her gloves both in her right hand, and then placed her knuckles on her waist.

"Well?" Celipa questioned again, now fully expecting a very good answer. Toma scanned her up and down, then quickly lifted his shoulders and muttered quietly, yet audible enough so she could hear, "Not bad."

With satisfaction, she folded her arms underneath her sternum with a two-sided smirk. "Better than nothing, I suppose," she admitted, leering at Panboukin. He just rolled his eyes in return, and then moved on to another subject.

"Hey Toma, did you catch notice of several of the assassin's skeletons on the way? Some gruesome stuff, eh?" A vicious smile approached because he knew that they were finally getting into something he would enjoy talking about.

Toma gave a negative sign. It caught the attention of all the other three, for they stared at him quizzically. Totepo, who had kept the dull expression during the entire conversation, only raised an eyebrow. Panboukin gave him a very disbelieving gaze. Celipa was the only one to speak up, at least before the overweight Saiya-jin had, "I assumed you flew to catch up with us. You should've seen at least the amphibian assassin."

"No," he shook his head again, seeming just as confused as the other three. "You mean one of the assassins have been killed?" Three heads bobbed in confirmation. Both Celipa and Panboukin opened their mouths to declare who it was that killed him, but... "I knew Bardock could do it. He probably got the other four also."

A deep chuckle rumbled from his throat and a triumphant smirk grew at the bottom half of his face. He muttered exultant praises to their leader although he wasn't there with them physically. Toma seemed more elated than ever before, which ultimately confused his comrades. The looks worn on their faces were all very similar. Either burrowed brows or a single brow raised and at least one of the corners of their mouths pulled towards the earth. Then, these words were heard clearly from the sub-leader's lips: "I bet he really took care of Freeza, that bastard."

The other two males and the female exchanged a glance of discomfort. When no one showed signs of bringing Toma down, the shorthaired woman sighed and walked two steps closer to him and placed a hand on his left arm. That snapped him out of his ecstatic rambling. He stared at her hand, and then to her face, which had nothing of excitement or joy. Instead, she seemed to almost be in a state of melancholy. That drew out all of his happiness instantly.

"What?"

She sighed, letting her arm drop down back at her side. She seemed to hesitate to tell him anything; her face never phased or shimmered to something worse than what it was now. He demanded again, this time with a tone of anger. She violently shook her head and her arms came across just below her chest again. She then looked back into his eyes, and with the most serious tone that has ever been heard from her --the most heard from practically ** any** of them, actually-- she announced:

"I --**we** don't think Bardock made it off the planet. Before you say or do anything, we have little proof, but it's proof nonetheless."

"Then show it to me!" Toma hissed, infuriated with the prediction itself. Whether it was true or not didn't matter. Whatever proof they carried probably would have caused his fury in the first place. All three of them stood motionless, not making any movements to reveal the evidence. This only angered him more. "God damn it! It can't be ** that** bad whatever it is!"

Panboukin and Celipa silently tilted their heads towards Totepo, indicating for him to show the proof to him. He nodded in an understanding gesture and shoved a giant open hand to Toma. Lying in his palm was a faded green, shell-like elastic armor, cracked and broken in various places. Underneath the shred of armor was a piece of black cloth, tattered and ripped.

Toma stood in complete shock; his eyes widened slightly, his arms barely shaking. He tried to say something, but nothing came out. Then he pouted, a calm anger intensifying the atmosphere. "That proves nothing. He could've had a minor setback. That happens."

Celipa clenched her teeth, baring them so it could show only the slightest bit. "Are you doubting me?!" She demanded, herself getting frustrated with the conversation. Her fists tightened, knuckles purifying to a whitish color. Her nails pierced her skin and blood trickled from her hands. She didn't care. She didn't even notice. "You have **no** idea where I found this! And you have absolutely **no** idea about the positions we were revived through! The reason being: you were the last one to be resurrected! Now, when I awoke from my supposed 'eternal sleep' I saw no rubble in the five-yard circle that surrounded me! Why? Because we were in a ditch caused by some sort of energy attack! We followed the ditch back to where we **know** we died. Therefore, we were caught in the middle of a battle where Bardock obviously lost! That ditch was at least seven miles long!"

The three men had let her ramble on. Either that or they had no choice but to listen to her for she did not provide any opportunity for them to say anything. But even after she finished talking, no one said anything until the sub-leader came up with an idea.

"Well, at least we agree on one thing," he growled. "Bardock was here. At least **I** saw him here with my own eyes before I died. So there's only one way to confirm that he had left this planet or not. We go look for his space pod."

Celipa grunted, folding her arms again, the blood spilling from her hands to her arms now. Her gloves and leggings did get a little red on them, but it's not like she cared. "Very well then. If he survived that blast, then his pod isn't here. If he died, then his pod is here. I guess we're delaying our return home now, aren't we?"

"If we plan to end this dispute, although we could wait until we return to Vegetasei. But don't you think it'd be better to do it now?" Toma suggested, sneering at her. This was really uncommon between the two of them; Panboukin was just too shocked to say anything. Besides, he enjoyed listening to an arguing male and female. He considered it entertaining.

"Fine," she snapped simply, heading off to the west of the night sky, leaving a trail of white aura behind her. The men watched her go before Toma glared at the other two, asking if they were going to participate. They unanimously agreed that they'd better. It was night on an empty planet, no scouters and too many natural disasters to dodge. So the quicker done, the better.

* * *

Check out the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com/



	6. Sub-leader

Sub-leader

Anger burned within the sub-leader. Frustration, specifically. His fury blinded him so much he wasn't even doing what he was supposed to do. He wasn't sure even if he announced the search for actual proof in the first place. Maybe he just wanted to get away from everyone. Nonetheless, it was still very awkward to be overjoyed to be reunited with his comrades one minute to wanting to be far from them the next. 

Toma knew perfectly well that the blame could not be put on Panboukin. He only brought up the topic of dead assassins because the previous conversation had come to an end. He was well known to keep everyone talking and active; after all, his well of topics never ran dry. Perhaps it was Toma's fault after all. If he had kept his thoughts to himself instead of jabbering everything out, maybe he would be enjoying life once again. However, he kept telling himself that most of the blame had to go to Celipa. She was the first to be annoyed, and she seemed a little too cheery to walk away from the group. 

Toma closed his eyes lightly. The wind of his flight whistled through his ears, the loose fur on his auburn tail and his hair fluttered with the wind. The speed he was going was incredible for one that was revived a mere hour ago. He could care less; at that moment, he was irritated, confused, and most of all, worn out. 

He slowly opened his eyes again, glancing towards the earth of the planet. The passing scenery underneath him streamed quickly passed him, but he never noticed anything peculiar about it. If he had been paying closer attention he would have gone dizzy. Lying on the ground were the decaying bodies of the Meatsei-jin, some crushed from demolished buildings, others craned in the most painful position imaginable. There were millions of them, and three times more of pieces of structures. This must have been a large and prosperous city. 

Toma didn't care. Nothing of his surroundings seemed to faze him one bit. What really concerned him was the fact that Celipa implied she wanted Bardock to have lost the battle he fought. Normally she would have automatically agreed to the brighter side of the situation instead of looking at the dark. She would have easily said, "That could be possible." 

But instead... 

_"Are you doubting me?! You have **no** idea where I found this! And you have absolutely **no** idea about the positions we were revived through! The reason being: you were the last one to be resurrected! Now, when I awoke from my supposed 'eternal sleep' I saw no rubble in the five-yard circle that surrounded me! Why? Because we were in a ditch caused by some sort of energy attack! We followed the ditch back to where we know we died. Therefore, we were caught in the middle of a battle where Bardock obviously lost! That ditch was at least seven miles long!" _

There was an element in her words that has never been there before. Something that only Toma ever carried: reasoning. She had actually made a point, actually intended upon making a point. It was a definite first for the young Saiya-jin woman. In the past, she was closely related to a "push-over", for she gave in to arguments instantly. Sometimes before they even started. Toma remembered all of the times when an argument could have easily started if she wanted it to happen. But she never did. 

That is, until a few minutes ago. 

Did the other two notice her strange behavior? Probably not. They only notice two things: their victims and their enemies. Even if they did notice, they probably wouldn't care. Was he the only one who actually had some concern about it? 

Damn. He hoped he was just telling himself he was worried and wasn't actually worried. 

But what if she ** was** right? Then the Saiya-jin race was gone. The commander of this small crew had been the last hope for them all; if he had died on the planet all the traditions and lives of the Saiya-jin were down the drain. Toma sighed the slightest bit, hoping that Celipa was wrong. She just **had** to be wrong. Bardock had to have made it off the planet alive and back to Vegetasei in time to defeat the cold lord. He had to have. So she had to be wrong! 

Toma stopped abruptly, the aura that had been surrounding him vanishing. He didn't see anything, for he had not been paying attention to his surroundings, but a realization occurred to him. Something that was very important, and he should have thought of it sooner back before he had made the decision to start a search for the last piece of evidence that they needed. They had forgotten about one little detail that could have prevented the separation. 

"Damn it," he muttered just under his breath, just barely audible. "How could we have been so thickheaded and missed it?" 

Quickly he turned back around and started speeding off back towards their landing site. He doubted that anyone was going to be there when he arrived, but he hoped that someone was stupid enough to not have left yet. 

* * *

_This couldn't be happening. Not like this. What did he do to deserve this? What did **they** do? And why? _

_The red sky had become tedious quickly, but there was nothing else he could stare at. Toma was too weak to move, to change positions to have new scenery to look at. He tried to sit up several times, but either the pain held him down or the fear of feeling more pain than he already felt prevented him from moving. Or maybe the realization that his time to pass on was near. Whatever the reason, there was no way he could lift his body up. _

_He could let go any moment. He knew he could, but something told him to hang on. Something at the back of his mind was telling him not to let go of his life, so he didn't. He forced himself to stay alive. He didn't know what he was waiting for, but as long as his conscience was stubborn, he decided that he would be too. _

_But these rocks were piercing his skin too much! He couldn't stand it. Were they even rocks? They were too sharp; it was probably the remains of broken belongings of the inhabitants or the buildings of the inhabitants. He didn't care anymore though. He didn't care if these beings had been too easy to kill. They didn't have to go through even half the pain he felt. His companions hadn't either. They were killed on the spot, almost instantly. _

_He closed his eyes and let out a breath of agony. He cringed, placing a hand flat on the ground. He then brought it up closer to his body and head, bending his elbow. The other arm followed. He pushed off from them, lifting his upper torso only a couple millimeters from the ground before the pressure was too much for him to handle. He let the tension win, for he let himself drop what felt like more than five or six inches. He panted hard for a couple seconds before he forced himself to breathe regularly again. _

_The sound of a fast moving ship broke the silence. It was a sound of flight. It stopped abruptly once it had become louder, and a few seconds later a light tapping noise was made. He drew in a sharp breath and held it. Did one of the assassins returned to make sure they had all really died? It didn't matter. The assassins had scouters. They would know whether or not he was alive. _

_"What the hell?!" _

_His eyes shot back open, and a warm look of relief swept across his face. That voice was all too familiar. He called out the newcomer's name, unintentionally sounding the exact way he felt and looked. But both of them let it pass. That was not important at the moment. _

_Obviously, Bardock knew how much lack of time there was. Now that he arrived, Toma felt his life fading away quicker, but he felt more content than ever in his life. Bardock rushed to his side, wasting no time at all. There were many things to be informed of, but he was able to summarize it all in two questions: "What's going on? ** What happened**?!" _

_Toma felt his body lifted higher than he managed to do on his own. Maybe that was all he needed. Aide. But what was the use now? Nonetheless, he was elated to not have to die staring at nothing, not having to die alone. Yet he did not want to disappoint his commander, his closest companion. He didn't give an answer to him yet, for he didn't intend to._

_ But after Bardock asked that one question that hit the spot, he had no choice but to explain everything._

_Finally, after saying everything he thought he needed to say, he came up with an idea. He let out a small smirk, knowing everything would work perfectly if Bardock carried it out. The main message was:_ Challenge Freeza. Show that bastard that he **should** be afraid of the Saiya-jin. And we will **not** go down without a fight! If I cannot avenge the rest of our comrades' deaths, I ask you to do so. 

_He closed his eyes for the last time afterwards, letting death take him away. He carried hatred, relief, and most of all, satisfaction that Freeza will die by the hands of a Saiya-jin._

* * *

**Getting yourself into more trouble, I presume?**  
I don't need another one on my back. Go away.  
**My, my. Quite touchy, I see.**  
What the..?! How did ** you** get out of Hell?  
**Let's just say your mischievous acts are rubbing off on me now. I snuck out.**  
Unauthorized presence here at the Center. Go away before I turn you in.  
**Now you're on the authorities side? I never thought I'd see the day.**  
Don't think I won't!  
**You really have changed. You're no fun anymore. So, who did you resurrect?**  
Why do you care?  
**I'm just jealous you didn't resurrect me. And I want to be angry at someone so tell me.**  
What if I don't want to? Leave already!  
**And go back to Hell?**  
Yes!  
**Sorry. It took me a while to get here and I won't go back for a while. In fact, I was thinking about resurrecting myself somehow.**  
Impossible. If one could resurrect himself, then ** I** would be alive right now!  
**No, in fact, I was thinking of using you. I'm guessing then I will know who you brought back to life instead of me.**  
Then what will you do to them? Kill them?  
**What do you think I am?**  
A monster. You bastard. You are going to kill them. I won't allow it. Not unless I can help it.  
**If there's anything you can do.**  
I dare you to try to use me to get your life back. Let's see if you can.  
**Fine. But it will be your fault, remember that...**

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com



	7. A Lone Building

A Lone Building

It was not that he was stupid. It was not that he didn't care. It was not that he thought that the job did not concern him. It was just that he was too damned worn out from the previous journey! Panboukin was not in the mood to deal with another so soon. Call that weak, as some might say, but he needed sleep despite the fact he had plenty of it while he was dead.

He only made it for about five minutes before he felt himself collapsing out of exhaustion. A simple pebble in his way made him lose balance momentarily; for a second he thought that he was drunk, although he hadn't consumed anything for the longest time. After that obstacle, he didn't move forward or backwards. He just stayed where he was for a few minutes while his eyes unintentionally closed, and he forced them back open. That was when he decided to head back to the landing site.

Panboukin didn't even think about flying to look for the extra crater of Bardock's. His sleepiness was only part of the reason why he didn't bother. The other part of his need for thought was his lack of concentration on anything, which was ** not** caused by his drowsy self. It strayed all the way from the past events to his last moments --something he did not enjoy, just like the others. Most of the time, however, nothing rang through his mind. He just stared in the distance as if he was daydreaming. However, that was not possible with this Saiya-jin. At least he told himself it was not possible with him.

A flying rock flew and drilled into his cheek. It bounced off and made a tiny crater in the soil, almost like a miniature meteor crashing into the surface of a planet. He felt the small flick and only followed the rock down to the ground. He sighed, and then swiveled around to start to walk back. Then he ** finally** remembered: he can fly!

So Panboukin lifted off the ground quickly, speeding off towards the landing site. He really didn't have to; after all, it was only several hundred meters away. He arrived there in ten seconds. The four empty space pods vibrated absolute silence, with the exception of the howling winds. It wasn't this bad before, but time can change climates. He knew that much. However, it shouldn't be this bad after they had cleared out the life here. Shouldn't the Planet Trade have moved in already and have inhabited this planet by now?

No matter. He was tired and he needed sleep. He can worry about that stuff later with the others.

Panboukin slid down in the crater to the sphere that was awaiting him. The time between his death and the present time must have been long; after all, the spacepod was coated with light brown ashes and buried two inches deep into the soil, which had strayed into the man-made cavity over time. It was still soft as the Saiya-jin's footsteps made imprints showing his trail. Soft yet firm. What else was new, he paid no attention to it. The word 'sleep' rang in his head too much.

The overweight Saiya-jin took a step in front of his space transport and saw the door still open. Surprisingly, the tanned chair resting in there was still in good shape. Perfect shape. Perhaps he hadn't been dead for as long as he thought. That wasn't the total amount of the surprise. The computer and the controls seemed to be dusted. Not stuck. It seemed almost new, as if there had been a barrier around the small one-man ship the entire time the planet had been deprived of life forms. It was too strange.

"At least I won't have to worry about comfort," he muttered, hauling himself inside. Sure enough, the chair had not yet lost its velvety touch. It was satisfying enough to sit in and get a good rest without disturbances. And almost instantly after closing the pod's door did he fall asleep.

About damned time.

* * *

There was only one building that had not been totaled from the Saiya-jin's invasion. It further from any of the eventful times for any members of the Planet Trade that had been on the planet, so no one noticed it. It wasn't even a Planet Trade building either. The design was too different. Celipa immediately knew it had to be the Meatsei-jin's structure.

That made her very suspicious.

The building wasn't very tall. It was probably about twice the height of the young woman. The windows seemed to have grown much bigger than the first time she's seen them. The lonesome entrance's length was half the size of the building and the width was only half of that. Just by looking inside of it, she could tell that the hallways were dark; however, there were holes practically everywhere. The outer rims of these openings made the concrete crumble little by little, which caused small cracks here and there all across the walls. The building overall looked very unstable.

Nonetheless, Celipa found it necessary to enter the near-demolished building. The main reason was curiosity: what did these inhabitants do to keep this building standing through were-monkeys, hurricanes of sand and rock, and erosion?

Or maybe the team had missed some Meatsei-jin...

Of course not!

When she stepped inside, she saw that the inhabitants did not have a love for furniture. Either that, or there were some things that did not survive the changes of the planet in this building. The halls were barren, for there were no chairs, beds, tables, or computer-generated items anywhere to be found. All she found were strings of surviving organisms lying around. Bacteria became visible against the surfaces of the walls, and the insects had claimed this decomposing structure their home. Besides that, there was not a trace of other survivors elsewhere in the corridors.

Celipa calmly walked on the crunching floor, making only noises of a dirt clod disintegrating underneath her moving feet. She was disappointed that there was nowhere comfortable to rest, but that was not a major concern for her. The sun was already coming up, but that was only because she traveled east where the sun comes up first. There wasn't much to offer at dawn; however, the light was enough to prevent her from running into unseen walls.

Her hands lightly swept across an outer wall that enclosed the entire building from most harm. Without gloves, the walls scratched her fingertips and made very tiny marks on them. The concrete used to make these structures obviously wasn't smooth. It was almost as if they were designed on the raw dirt, with the tiny pebbles still in place. It told nothing of the buildings' stability. How would texture affect the hold of this dwelling?

Another window passed. This time Celipa stopped and placed her forearm on the sill. Her fingers curled slightly, with only the fingertips resting on the bottom edge of the window. With apathetic eyes she stared outside, surveying the land from inside the victim's home. Pride approached her feelings, which enabled her to mask her previous feelings of hatred and irritation. A small smirk lifted her face up while her pupils trailed from one side to another.

There was yet another tornado in the distance, but smaller than others that have occurred. It just passed on along the horizon, never causing extra amounts of wind and dust. Not a sound was made. Everything was silent now save the tiny breathing of the Saiya-jin, soon followed by words that could not be made out. She stood upright from where she was and investigated the building further. The building was what caused her distraction; she was not about to leave until she received answers. Maybe the Meatsei-jin's architecture will come in handy someday.

As she continued on, she noticed nothing unusual of the building besides the lack of furniture. What further came to her disappointment was the fact that she'd have to tear the building up piece by piece to the backbone if she wanted to know what kept this building up. Celipa did not have the patience for that. Not only as a Saiya-jin, but also as an uninterested being in this field. When she wanted answers, she wanted them whenever she asked for them. Unfortunately, she was a mere third class female; therefore her satisfactions must come from actually receiving an answer, even if they reached her ten years later. Now, if she were royalty or elite, things would have been a tad different.

"Oh, this was just a waste of my time," she growled lowly, turning to the opening next to her in the wall. It was the size of two normal-sized windows pasted together, enough for her to fit through without troubles.

Right when she stuck a leg out of the hole, she heard a noise of crumpling paper. Irritated yet curious, she twisted her head to the side, while her front was facing the edge of the opening. Afterwards, there was a complete silence. For a couple moments she stayed, watching, listening, and waiting for something else to occur. Of course that never happened, so she completed her turn-around and ambled out the hole.

Just when Celipa was about to lift off, she heard another noise. This time, it was a loud blaring sound, echoing around. If she thought she had learned her lesson about being jumpy over every noise a desolate setting gave, she figured that she should relearn it. At that moment, she spun around on her heel, swinging her arms across as she went. She stood ready as she dug a foot deeper into the soil, tightening both fists, waiting for a remaining inhabitant to come jump at her from all sides.

But that was not the case at the moment. There were no inhabitants left who stood on top of the food chain. None. At the most there were insects, monerans, and fungi, but nothing more, nothing less.

Or so she thought.

At that moment, she learned the true reason why the building could be held up for many years. It had nothing to do with an inhabitant or the structure of the building. It was something much, much worse. And it was something that she would regret meddling into.

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com



	8. Rise and Shine!

Rise and Shine!

Midnight. There should be stillness everywhere at this time. And there was. Nothing was moving besides the air and dust. Nothing made a sound save for the small whistling of the wind. Nothing could be seen at all. The excessive amount of clouds covered the region, making it impossible for stars to penetrate. There was no moon to be shown, for around this time there was a new moon; the natural satellite was between the sun and the planet. Everything was dark and empty. 

A very tiny rumble soon destroyed the peace that had finally arrived. It was the sound of a space shuttle beginning to ignite for lift-off heard many distances away. Suddenly, where there were no galaxy-contributing forms of light before, there was now a twinkling blue star against the blanket of ebon that would cause distraction to anyone that was awake. The shiny, tiny dot gradually became bigger and bigger with the vibrating noise. A figure came speeding past, a trail of aura following closely behind him. 

Toma's face was stern, almost panicky. His fists were clenched at his sides, for the concentration was aimed to hurry back as soon as possible --with**out** delays. He held a perfectly straight form with the exception of his head, which was facing in the direction he was going. The shimmering aura around him glowed brightly, allowing a guidance light for him so he wouldn't miss his target. 

Soon, the first part of Toma's goal was reached. He caught notice of the holes in the ground which were wide enough so he wouldn't have to worry about mistaken them for something else. Dropping the aura, he stopped abruptly, bringing his arms over his head as he landed gently. There was a small grinding when he stepped on several balls of dirt and weak rocks, his armored boots still carrying the strength it had a long time ago. When he started walking, however, not a single noise was made. 

Like earlier, Toma didn't expect anyone to be back at the landing site yet, but he wasn't about to go look for the others. Soon they would either give up and return or succeed and return. However, he already knew the report when one of them arrived, although he hadn't found the last pod crater himself. He had learned something quickly before the others did; that was why he came back. 

Bored and having nothing else to do, the sub-leader walked on the edges of each deep ditch, going along in a vertical direction. He passed by his own first. It was just barely lying on its side, the door hanging open. It seemed to have dust or dirt sprinkled on top of the roof, some of the smoky white coating on the ship showing only in very little places, but a lot at once. Still, the ship seemed to be luminous against the surrounding darkness, allowing him to see that the inside was no different than the last time he had seen it. The next pod over, Celipa's tiny ship, was no different. 

He halted upon approaching the Panboukin's pod. Since he had quickly adjusted to the dark, he noticed that there was something peculiar about that one-man spaceship. Unlike the first two, the pod was a perfect sphere standing upright, the creases on the door heading towards the sky. This caused curiosity within the Saiya-jin and perhaps a little anger while he surfed down towards the small ship. 

Like a casual skier, he stopped suddenly a few inches from the pod, letting some of the dirt that surrounded it burst up in the air. Toma got a small peek at the plump figure inside, but no details could be seen. He angrily pounded on the side of the metal, producing a hollow noise. When that did not help to awaken the man inside, there was only one other thing for him to do since he could not pry open the door. 

"Wake up, you dumbass!" Toma yelled irritably, pounding the sides even harder. Again, the echo of a vacant tin can was the only response. "Stubborn bastard," he growled, quitting the violent jams on the pod and his loud shouts. He wasn't waiting for the door to open just yet. In fact, a sly smirk approached his face and a gleam caught in his eyes. 

The sub-leader shuffled his feet, making several footsteps going lighter and lighter. He crouched low and spread his legs, having his arms spread out like a bird showing its true wingspan. Each inhale only grabbed a teaspoon of oxygen, each exhale letting out half as much. His body kept perfectly still with only slight trembles from the arms suspended in the air and his struggles to keep it there without moving them. The deep, lopsided grin held strong throughout the ten seconds he held the position, never wavering. 

Swiftly, yet not making a single sound, Toma stood upright, placing his feet a shoulder's width apart with one a couple inches right in front of the other. He leaned forward and brought a fist back to the side of the titanium, this time pounding with happy enthusiasm rather than angry. In a sing-song voice he called out, "Rise and shine! Come on out already, you lazy bum!" 

There was an audible grumble coming from the inside followed closely by the small clicking noise of a button. The door opened slowly, making an airy release. A rather irritated figure emerged from the sphere, and the eyes narrowed when they found the source of the trouble. Toma only laughed. Loudly. 

"What is so damned funny?" Panboukin snapped. "I was trying to get some sleep!" 

Toma paused his guffaw, still wearing that smirk of his. "Proof that **that** tactic works on anybody! So, what the hell were you trying to do? Get out of the hard labor that you don't want to do?" 

Panboukin huffed, folding his arms angrily across his chest and having a skeptical expression worn on his face. "What do you mean, 'what the hell am I trying to do'? What are ** you** doing back? Have ** you** found whatever it was you sent us out to look for? Or did you lose trust in us already?" 

"Dumbass," Toma muttered, mimicking the other man's arm movements, his lips coming into a tiny frown. "You assume too much." 

"You should know better than me about that," Panboukin answered. His arms somehow swayed back to his sides, and it was now his turn to wear a cocky smirk. "So, which is it?" 

"When the other two get back I'll tell you, but by then it will probably be too late to point out anything," Toma explained somewhat reluctantly all of a sudden. The two of them knew just as well as any other of the crew that Totepo was mission-oriented. He would not return until he accomplished a task a higher authority gave to him, or until he had forced himself to accomplish no matter what. Celipa, on the other hand, was unstable as far as goals went. She lost interest quite quickly to something she really had no heart to do in the first place. 

"Point out what? That this is totally useless and we should just go home already?" Panboukin retorted, shamelessly sarcastic. Toma waved the cynicism aside and answered: 

"Like I said, when the other two get back. At least now you'll be able to learn some patience." 

Panboukin rolled his eyes, letting out a deep breath of annoyance. Exhaustion, even. "So **why** did you wake me up? You could have waited and let me get the rest I needed." 

Toma shook his head, the smirk returning to his face. "Nah, I would rather see you suffer of having to stay awake longer. You're just too fun to torment. Both you and Celipa." 

Again, Panboukin showed his signs of irritation, this time muttering to himself more gibberish. The words couldn't be made out, but the sub-leader could care less. Toma walked out of the crater, and as tired as the overweight Saiya-jin was, he followed, knowing that there was no longer a use to go back to sleep. He would just be awakened again and end up even more grouchy than he was now. 

* * *

No no no. A battle he was losing. He couldn't bear it again. The last time he lost a battle was his final battle, but that was something he was soon happy and proud of. With this loss, however, nothing good will emerge. Everything he worked hard for would be put down the drain immediately if his opponent were to find the correct information. Therefore, he must struggle to win! He must! 

However, this was proving to be a difficult task. Much more difficult than any other the Resurrector had to do in all of his entire lives: his time while he was alive and his time while he was dead. Was there an afterlife for an afterlife? He seriously doubted it, just like previously he doubted being able to die again. But with the pain he felt, anything was possible in the afterlife as it was in the living world. And if that were so... 

Damn it! There was no way out of this. He had to stand strong and fight back with twice as much strength than he had within him. Maybe he did have that amount and just didn't know it. But he didn't care. Didn't care at all. He could not afford to give up or give in. Either send this bastard back where he belonged or send him back to where he would be much more appreciated. That certainly was neither Heaven nor Hell. 

The Resurrector would not be punished for this. He knew he wouldn't. Dead people who still had their spirits, mind, and bodies combined as one in Hell always ended up two or three ways: escaping from Hell, being sent into another Hell, or put like most other members of the evil afterlife: living in spirit but not in body or mind. It made little difference whom they were and whom they were related to. Very little difference. 

But it was different with the four Saiya-jin that had just recently been resurrected. And this traitor's fate, too, was going to be different. He was going to make sure of that. 

* * *

_Across a flat table there were large clumps of dirt piled in various places. Child-like behavior came across and scattered their outside doings inside, enjoying themselves as they did. Insects had been crushed in the palms of their hands and splattered with their demolished homes and everything else they had struggled to keep strong and prosperous. It was a sad event, but these were insects; the children didn't care. _

_Once the children retreated from the table, they had their own little ordeals to handle. But they did not notice that a rock unconsciously fell from one of the piles, causing a dent in the surface of the table. It wasn't a big rock; it didn't weigh much at all. But it still made the surrounding bits of dirt that had been on top of its landing position fly up in the air, causing more of the insects' dissection and spillage of guts if a boulder came tumbling on them. _

_Then one child returns. He is the same age as the others, but more carefree. He did nothing to help the filthiness of the table and felt terribly left out. But he sees the newly formed dent and immediately takes notice of the pebble lying in the middle. He picked it up, examining it with great interest before tightening his grip on it and running off to catch up with his other friends, leaving the mess behind. _

_Some time after, another insect flies up to the scene. The first thing he notices is the dent made in the table. As the flying insect looks closer, he also notices that there is nothing there that could have caused the somewhat tiny crater in the first place. Slyness approaches the emotions of the fly, and it speeds off elsewhere on the table somewhat ecstatically. _

_The answer to the question was now revealed._

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com



	9. Discovery: 001

Discovery: 001

Like a snail slithering across the plains, black became a grayish-red. Gradually very little light at a time was allowed in, causing the visibility to see the outline of the horizon and other surroundings. There was no semi-circle coming from either horizon yet, but that would come in a couple of hours. Even with the excessive amount of clouds, the sun shouldn't be difficult to view until the entire star was suspended in the sky. Only then would it be hidden from every rock and person on the planet by the evaporated liquids and the steam. 

Meanwhile, the storms that had become bothersome to the Saiya-jin had died down to a mere breeze, producing only a roar heard from a distance while it bounced off of empty canyon walls. The temperature was still ranging from a hundred to a hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit, but if one were to be around for a while, he would be quite used to it. 

It had been three hours of sleepiness; not a wink of sleep gained. It was nothing for the sub-leader; he had gone a week without sleep several times before. However, Panboukin found it extremely bothersome. He did everything he could think of to stay awake: paced back and forth, took out his anger on a few large pieces of debris, and most of all complained. It worked, but not enough for him to survive his languor. 

Toma had been sitting in the same spot for the past few hours, arms folded roughly across his chest, eyes closed and head hung down. Whenever Panboukin shot out his thoughts, Toma always dismissed them with simple answers before going back into his state of deep meditation. 

Once or twice Panboukin would ask why he had returned and what it was he wanted to tell him and the others. The only answer he received was, "I told you: when Totepo and Celipa returns. Now shut the hell up and be patient!" 

"Telling **me** to be patient," Panboukin muttered this time, looking back to the distance. He kept blinking in a twice-than-normal speed, a sign that he was struggling to stay awake. It seemed he was trying to look out for one of the other two that were to return; however, he was too tired to actually have any concern for either of them. 

He almost didn't notice a tall figure approach. Totepo had come calmly, not causing any surprise to either of them. Had it been Toma, and in some cases Celipa, Panboukin would have been irritated at their arrival since it always came too quickly. It seemed as if Totepo had been flying low to the ground the entire time as though he was acting like a plane: descending slowly with every unit of measurement. He landed on the ground softly yet with the same cold expression as always, except that this time his eyes gleamed with satisfaction. 

Toma lifted his face to see the man who had just returned, and a smirk came across his face. He stood to get a better eye-to-eye view, although with Totepo's incredible height, it would be near to impossible. Toma's arms never uncrossed. "No need to tell me. Let me guess. You found it." Totepo nodded, a corner of his mouth tugging upwards. This only made the sub-leader's smirk go in deeper. Although he knew the answer already, he wanted to hear it from someone else, despite the fact it wasn't his nature to do such a thing. "And?" 

Totepo let his head go down in a half nod manner, the corner of his mouth finally shooting deep into his cheek. "It seems as if our commander has left the planet alive and well." 

"I knew it," Toma replied smugly. Not once did his confidence in the father of two males, the close friend to them all, waver. Never had it before, never will it for as long as he lives --the second time around. 

"Well then, maybe ** now** you can go ahead and tell us whatever it was you wanted to tell us," Panboukin cut in, his patience finally reaching its edge. He didn't show it. His face wore the run-of-the-mill smirk; probably as a sign that he was satisfied that he will most likely get the answer he was literally losing sleep over. 

Luck wasn't on his side this morning. 

Both Totepo and Toma heads turned to face him. Totepo, as usual, seemed indifferent minus the readable expression in his eyes, which gave the assumption that he was a little confused. Toma continued to look annoyed at Panboukin, and gave him a tiny "_tsk_" noise. He let out a breath of air, and then let his irritation show in his voice. 

"Moron," Toma growled, scooting his foot so his body could be in the opposite direction Panboukin was facing. "What did I tell you?" 

"You said when Totepo and Celipa returns. Totepo's back," the overweight Saiya-jin responded, jerking his head towards the Totepo, his thin eyes still locked on Toma. 

"Exactly. **That's** why I'm not telling you right now," the sub-leader snapped. Totepo lifted an eyebrow only a couple millimeters in curiosity and, as usual, said nothing. His curiosity was not with what secret Toma had, but something a little more personal, which soon to came to a surprise that Panboukin had not yet noticed. "I think I should've put an emphasis on 'and' since you're so thickheaded to get it through your skull that I was speaking of when **both ** of them returned. Not when only when **one ** of them did." 

Panboukin folded his arms in front of his mid-torso with the nastiest scowl that has ever been worn on him. Ever. "You may as well just tell us since Celipa won't be coming back for a while." 

"Not unless we-" Toma began, but he cut himself off, remembering the "little" setback they had. It was the entire reason why he had to sit around and wait for them to return. They lacked a source of communication. Telepathy wasn't exactly something Saiya-jin were taught during their training sessions if they were to have any. It was too complex and no one wanted to waste his time on it. The scouters they had once worn over their left eye had been dissolved before their demise, so even locating each other would be difficult. 

An uncomfortable stillness flew by, but not on swift wings. Panboukin kept giving Toma a triumphant glare. Totepo, too, was gazing at him, but skeptically. The sub-leader disregarded their stares, completely ignoring their presence while he entered the state of deep thought. Again. The other two did not disturb it with a sound or a physical movement. It wasn't that they were scared; they never were. It was merely for the respect. 

"Alright," Toma muttered quite reluctantly. He let out a breath of air, a short one that sounded as if he gave out the last hard pant before going into softer ones that were not perceptible. "I have a plan about how we can shorten the time we have to stay on this worthless planet. Totepo, tell me where Bardock's landing site is." 

Totepo's finally emotion-filled face had melted back into the state of hollow interest exactly at the point when Toma's head started to swivel towards him. It wasn't much of a transformation, but it was enough to block the sub-leader's knowing of the other's suspicions. To keep it that way, Totepo answered quite simply, "Only less than a hundred miles from the location of our expiration." 

"Shouldn't be too far then," the murmuring returned, and Toma's pupils moved to the upper left corners with thought, but only a quick strand of thought this time. "Show me where it is exactly. Panboukin, you stay here and wait for Celipa. You know, in case she gives up." 

"What was **that ** supposed to imply?" 

"She'll get tired eventually. If not, then she'll run into the crater in which one of us has to be there for," Toma explained patiently, returning to his old self again. "And just as you're determined for some sleep and to return home, I'm willing to get back in touch with Bardock again as quickly as possible. It's probably better if all four of us leave at the same time so nothing chaotic happens." 

"Things may get chaotic enough once he sees us alive again." 

"That's a good point," Toma agreed, before turning to Totepo. "So, let's go. We've wasted a little more time than necessary. Let's get Celipa and go home. Then," he shot a quick glance towards Panboukin, "I'll tell you what we should've thought of before separating." 

"We're just doing it all over again," Panboukin pointed out gruffly, the lack of sleep creeping in further and further. 

"**This** time it's to end the previous one. I hope **that** wasn't too complex to enter your brain," the sub-leader's ugly personality returned. Totepo saw this immediately and made a gesture to leave this time without entering an argument or explanation. Toma acknowledged the gesture with a sharp nod. "We'll be back later." 

The two of them lifted into the air and blasted off, showing the white flare to indicate their trail and power. Quickly the figures vanished into the near dark light of the sky, the trails dissolving swiftly or slowly enough for them to be witnessed. The sound of a jet roared and turned soft at the same speed, only a few seconds slower. 

When it became silent once more, Panboukin realized that he could finally get the sleep he had been longing forever since he had been awakened from the first nap. He grunted and muttered, "No one will give a damn." 

He trudged solemnly to his crater happily. Sleep was the most important issue. After he got the rest, **then** he will be able to worry about the "secret" Toma had with him. **Then** he will be able to worry about the whereabouts of Celipa. **Then** he would be more than happy to return to Vegetasei and find out what exactly had occurred that caused the assassins to come and kill him. He knew it had something to do with Freeza, considering Toma's previous ramblings. 

Could it be that Freeza...? 

No, of course not. 

Panboukin slid down the crater and settled back into his spacepod, quickly forgetting his previous thoughts as he drifted to sleep, the door closing in front of him. Some things were handled best once rest was achieved. Especially since there was no one to discuss these issues with at the moment.

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi ][1]website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com



	10. Female Gone Astray

Female Gone Astray

Two dots against a bleached rectangular background had kept themselves locked straight ahead in the direction that the body was headed. They bounced the teeniest bit from left to right, while the mind of the Saiya-jin was kept in thought of only two pretty simple concepts that could be explained in a mere two minutes combined. Hopefully. At least one of them could be explained quickly. The other may take a little longer, and the question was much more simple than the answer, at least in the way he looked at it.

Or not. Maybe the answer was much more simple than the question. That was another possibility. Loose ends. That was what was most important to him when it came to thinking of possible answers. It was endless, and it was important to keep it that way. When the answers are received, tie them up. Make sure that it is logical. 

Were the answers to both of his questions sensible? Or was there much explaining to do to understand it? 

Maybe it was time to find out. 

* * *

Toma followed closely with Totepo, five feet away to his left and only a head behind his head. The balding Saiya-jin was visible from the corner of his eye so it'd be easier to follow. The tip of the sun was now peeking over the horizon, the direction they were headed. Toma's eyes were narrowed to help filter out some of the passing wind of his flight, and his aura did most of the rest. 

Toma kept his silence, but unlike the man next to him, he was not in deep, much less shallow, thought at all. His brain was spontaneously kept going from one subject to the next. Sometimes he would murmur his thoughts and catch the Totepo overhearing --accidentally, of course. He made no bother at all to ask him about it. 

After a while Toma realized that by speaking to himself, even quietly, he was making himself sound like a fool. So he soon shut up and kept his thoughts to himself. Everything ran dry once sooner or later, however, and once he quit muttering his thoughts ceased, too. For the first time in a long time he struggled for something to have in his mind which eventually led him into thinking a sing-song taunt of his comrades and others that he had known. 

Toma realized too late that it sounded pretty childish. He had been speaking it aloud also. 

He growled lowly and shot a quick glance towards the other person next to him, making sure Totepo wasn't going to say anything about it, although Toma already knew that he wasn't going to. He was both relieved and angered to see that the expression on Totepo's face did not change the slightest bit. Maybe Toma had hoped that a conversation would have struck up because of his lame outburst. That would only have been possible with the other two who were elsewhere on the planet. Perhaps even the fifth, who was hopefully on Vegetasei and hopefully not having a new crew to wipe planets out with. 

It was then when Toma realized that there were more consequences to their return to their home planet than expected. He closed his eyes and murmured a tiny curse. He had no idea how long it has been since he died. Had Bardock turn his back on them already because of the mere fact they were dead? Or had been? Or had it been so long already that he passed away? Either way, Toma would not know, for he did not spend any time in the afterlife. 

Bardock ** had** to be alive now. 

"I know you don't want me asking, but exactly what was Panboukin talking about back there?" 

Toma moved his eyeballs to glance at the other man again, surprised at Totepo's sudden question. "I almost thought you'd never ask," the sub-leader responded in a friendly sarcastic manner, a smirk coming upon his face. "Like I said, if we had thought of this sooner we would've prevented the separation in the first place. But damn it, she made me so angry..." Toma trailed off, but only for a few seconds so he could return to the topic. "Anyway, it was pretty obvious. I can't believe we all missed it." 

The silence crept up again as if he expected Totepo to say something to urge him on. But he didn't. Toma exhaled a tiny amount of air before continuing on. "It's all within the logic. Just because pieces of his clothing and armor had been found doesn't mean he died. A minor setback, remember? 

"Well, like Celipa said, there was some sort of strong blast that caused that ditch. We were resurrected there. Our bodies did not dissolve, so there's no reason why Bardock's should've. Totepo, damn it, no body. No skeletal structures or flesh or anything of the sort. The only thing he left behind were the items you three found. If he did die, I'm sure we would've found some remnants of his body by now." 

"And we didn't." 

"Right," Toma confirmed and said nothing more. A self-satisfied look came to his face, happy that he said what he needed to say. The flight continued with the same silence of achievement as a deep hole in the ground came in the distance, growing bigger and bigger as the two Saiya-jin flew closer and closer to it. 

* * *

Panboukin was still extremely tired, but he couldn't sleep. How could he, especially since his empty stomach demanded food? And **now**! He hated his pressuring appetite. There was not a bite to eat around here unless he turned to cannibalism, which was unlikely. Remaining entrails of either the inhabitants or the assassins didn't appeal to him. In fact, it sounded sickening to him. 

Normally Panboukin would eat dead inhabitants. But when he did, it was never the organs in the body unless they were part of the limb. The limbs were the only parts he would eat off of his victims. An arm, a leg, occasional pieces of the neck. It was usually cooked instantly, and when it wasn't, he could easily turn the flesh into a juicy solid form. The thought of ** that** made his mouth water. 

It had been a nice, three-hour long nap for him. It was peaceful --too peaceful, even. Panboukin had no dreams at all, but he didn't expect any, and he was almost glad that he didn't have any. Almost. The only reason why he wanted one was so that he could have something to think about while he waited for either of the other three and to block out his hunger. Other than that, he considered dreams, as always, a nuisance. 

Panboukin growled audibly while he glanced at his surroundings. After all, since hunger and sleepiness were killing him at the same time, he wanted the others more than ever to return. That way he can go back to Vegetasei happily and gain everything he needed, as could the other three. 

But he, too, realized something. Where Toma knew that there was something to prevent the separation, Panboukin knew something to prevent the separation, hunger, and sleepiness all together! They could've just held off the argument until they returned to their home planet and none of this would've happened! He knew he should've stepped in and said something, but of course, the surprise of Toma and Celipa arguing for the first time kept him. Also, then, he wasn't thinking clearly himself. 

Still, it was no excuse. He knew it as well as the next person to come along. 

"Where are they?!" Panboukin snapped to the air, becoming more and more impatient as the seconds rolled by. He was too lost in his frustration from previously that he didn't hear anything at all. Absolutely nothing. Oops on his part again. 

Silence followed his outburst, as he expected. It was only for a suspended two seconds, though. "Where are who?" A voice questioned from behind him, sounding stern and irritated, with only a hint of satisfaction dabbed to it. 

The overweight Saiya-jin squirmed in an annoyed surprise, but he didn't turn around to face the person. "You **don't** have to do that, you know!" Panboukin growled, relaxing his shoulders again. 

Toma didn't laugh at him. Taunting, however, was another story, although it wasn't as mocking as it usually sounded. Maybe sleep was pounding on his head as well. "I'm surprised you didn't go back in your pod for sleep. And I thought you were tired. Maybe you weren't as thickheaded as I thought you to be." 

"You know, you're starting to be a problem. Not only with Celipa, but for me also! Does Totepo have to deal with this? Is he even with you right now or did you just leave him there?" 

"If anyone's the problem, it's you," Toma snapped. He was not in a good mood at the moment. Or earlier, for that matter. It just dawned on Panboukin only at that point. Maybe that was it and nothing inflicted onto his personality during his time in Hell. **If** he had time in Hell. "Anyway, Celipa didn't return yet, I see." Panboukin said nothing in response, did nothing in response. "She must be really determined, then." Pause. "She is so stupid!" 

"No, **you're** the one who's stupid," Panboukin retorted. Awkwardly, this was the first time he ever dared to talk back to the sub-leader, and he even surprised himself for a swift moment. "After all, we could've just waited until we returned to Vegetasei! There was no reason for us to stay here! Why did you suggest to go look for whatever-it-was when the answer could've just been back home? Everything would've been explained there." 

"So you're saying it's my fault?" 

"You tell me." 

A silence settled in between the two men. Neither wanted to talk to each other anymore --at this point it would be said it was strange, but then again, everything had been strange lately-- and neither could come up with anything intelligent to say. Both wore the run-of-the-mill scowls, both having their own separate meaning. One with anger and aggravation, the other with anger and realization. 

But with these certain two, quietness couldn't last too long or else they'd go insane. It happened before, but only on rare occasions. Besides, that was still during the Wakusei War. "It's not like her to keep going like this, no matter how determined she is," Toma finally said. His voice was low, quiet almost, as if in mourning. 

Panboukin's face fell a couple millimeters so that it wasn't noticeable. He didn't want it to be, of course, but he knew that he was feeling guilty now. Maybe worried? "So, what do we do? No scouters," he pointed out, letting only a tiny bit of concern out. 

"Let's wait for another hour or so," Toma suggested. "If Celipa doesn't come back, I'll go get Totepo and we'll start looking for her. Damn it, what did she get herself into this time?!" 

Panboukin only managed a vague chuckle. But he, too, was worried about Celipa. He couldn't explain why, just like Toma couldn't. She never returned. Could she be dead --again? 

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com



	11. Search Begins... and Ends

Search Begins... And Ends

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Damn her!"

The gray-skinned man only stared at his companion in response. What could he say? Obviously he was worried, but luckily Totepo was not like the rest of his people and didn't point it out. But he was also ** like** the rest of the Saiya-jin by providing no words of comfort.

Already noon was approaching and the sky was tinted to the same exact color as it had been on their last day of life. Pinkish-white swirling designs were made on the surface of the sky, where the sun was hidden. There was still light, of course. Everything on the planet could be seen perfectly.

The expression worn on the Toma's face was very visible indeed. He looked frustrated and exhausted. The other feeling he was showing neither of them would dare mention, although he was also expressing it in both his words and his voice. He felt the emotion that he did because three hours had passed, and Celipa had not returned to the landing site. Toma had just learned that she hasn't run into the landing site of their old commander either.

While Totepo kept quiet, the sub-leader kept rambling on. His tones of voice were silent and almost like a growl. The words he spoke were not reassuring to either of them. In fact, it could bring a person's spirits down further than the ground. And according to what he muttered, he had a very strong feeling she was dead.

As his voice kept getting softer and softer, the higher and higher the tension grew. Finally, when Toma's voice was in a whisper, Totepo knew what he had to do to snap him out of it. "Toma," he said simply in a snappy tone. Amazingly enough, it did the trick.

Toma looked at his companion, biting the inside of his cheek, the ends of his brows connecting and a corner of his mouth only slightly lower than the other. He quit talking and stayed that way for a moment, before squaring his shoulders in determination. "We have to find her," Toma stated quietly. "I'm not leaving this place without knowing how she is. Dead or alive. It's not like her to push herself this much. It can't be a practical joke either. She isn't capable of coming up with things like that."

Totepo kept his blank expression, and his voice was just as dull. "What do you suggest we do?" he questioned. Normally he wouldn't ask Toma that question, but Bardock wasn't on the planet. Therefore, Toma had the authority to command the crew. Although this had nothing to do with the missions, and was concentrated more on a group problem rather than a crew problem.

The sub-leader just shook his head, almost indicating he had no bright ideas. "Something is better than nothing," Toma muttered to himself. "Let's go back to Panboukin. One of us will stay at the landing site, and two others will look for her for three hours. Then we return and someone switches spots."

Totepo nodded grimly, having no better ideas. Both of them took off back to the landing site in unison without any other motions or words foreshadowing their sudden movement. It was as if they shared a brain. Actually, to a certain point of view, they did. Continuing this theory, neither said anything at all during the journey. After all, both were too blinded by their emotions so much that they couldn't even think clearly.

It would be considered a rare case for Saiya-jin. But with these certain two Saiya-jin, that would be a lie. At least when it came to a close comrade's whereabouts. Without scouters or any other source of communication, concern was to be expected from any species. That is, those who actually had feelings.

* * *

Ha! Success. How he loved the taste of that. It was the best and the most delight the Resurrector had ever received and allowed himself to feel. Other times the taste for success just came to him blindly. Of course he enjoyed it, but this time he did it himself, and without the help of others. He didn't need help this time. Oh no, he didn't.

His opponent was trapped. Pinned down. Surrounded. Imprisoned. It took a good while, but not too much time. Only a mere six hours. In another two hours he can send this traitor back down to Hell, when the gates reopen. Then he can rejoice for a few years or months, monitoring the four Saiya-jins' lives, which he couldn't get to at the moment. He had no idea what was happening and that did not come lightly to his senses.

Well, one could be patient for another few hours.

Thank goodness that he had won this battle! If he hadn't, then his one chance to save the Saiya-jin race went down the drain with a loud plop. He was only allowed resurrecting one group of people within three days, and it was gruesome work. Their bodies must be still in good condition as well. Not decayed, moth-eaten. Not vanished or obliterated into tiny little pieces like their home planet, where the remains of their other comrades stood.

Thank goodness his lover, who had died before he had, took care of the bodies immediately after they died. She knew that he would want them to be alive again. He had a feeling that she had something to do with his place as a partial god. She never killed. Despite how she had normally acted during her lifetime, she was almost innocent. Almost. But not quite. So if she asked the gods for her husband as a partial god, like she became a partial goddess, they'd probably grant her it. She may have been put on "community service" in Heaven to make up for some of the bad things she's done before.

It didn't matter. He loved her anyway.

The main thing on his mind was: how much longer could those barriers hold? After he was sent back to Hell, how long until he managed to break free again and this time succeed in getting what he wants?

The Resurrector won't let that happen. No chance in Hell. No chance in Heaven. No chance by the name of the living world would he allow him to get away and destroy all that he worked hard for.

* * *

Totepo was what he was before he died. He is what he was before he died. The way things are looking, he will always be what he was before he died. The official referee of all arguments between or among his comrades. The peacekeeper in drastic measures. Well, there was one in every group. Totepo was either the lucky or the unlucky one that he was it.

But those two. They had never argued or even disagreed in their entire lives, yet there they were an hour ago. Toma and Panboukin seemed like they were soon to be on the verge of killing each other. Perhaps they were. Their heated argument was quiet and low, not loud and deafening. This brought out the uneasiness in Totepo. But when he saw the sharp move indicating a fight was going to start, so he cut in calmly and reminded them that Celipa was still out there on the planet alone.

Amazingly, they forgot that they had to be looking for her. In fact, they were arguing over whose fault it was that she never returned, too! Awkwardly enough, they never blamed it on her. They blamed it on each other. It was more of a bounce-back argument. Panboukin started it off, saying that if Toma hadn't snapped they wouldn't be in this situation. Then Toma counterattacked. The rest went on from there.

Well, at least they were off on their search again. "Again" didn't necessarily mean that they were back on the search to find Celipa. "Again" meant that they were off finding answers of their companion's whereabouts. This time, however, only two of them were out on the search. But now Totepo realized that there was no use in them just sending out two at a time. It was confirmed that she was not going to return on her own. She hadn't for the past twelve plus hours. What even made Toma begin to ** think** to make someone stay behind?

Despite Toma's anger at the overweight Saiya-jin, he instructed Panboukin to stay at the landing site until someone returned to cover for him. He said he needed to get some rest. Totepo knew what he was thinking. Perhaps some sleep will vanquish some or most of the steam. Knowing Panboukin and everyone else, it might be possible. Either he needed sleep to ease his temper or something else that they couldn't give him right now.

Or were they helping him now? It could be just him, but Celipa always seemed to be closer to either Panboukin or Toma. She seemed to value them more than Bardock or Totepo, although she still trusted the taller Saiya-jin more than anyone else and loved to help out with training Bardock's son. Nonetheless, in times of trouble the two people she turned to, depending on the situation, were the two most out-going males of the crew.

Then again, it could be just him.

Swift images came past his eyes as he searched the ground thoroughly. Bones and decaying flesh. Demolished buildings. The signature of their destruction. Why hadn't the Planet Trade come through here yet, cleaning up after them? They always had. In fact, once Totepo went to an old planet he got rid of just out of mere curiosity and saw that a new, thriving city had been established. The buyers really wanted a planet to claim as their own. And they did. Ultimate pride had gone through him, and it was only three years later that did he realize they had been used.

A split second before he had died.

Totepo jerked his head up all of a sudden, noticing a single building still in contact. It was awfully familiar, although he barely took notice of the designs of the buildings of the Meatsei-jins. This was exactly what it was. Almost perfect condition, with the exceptions of a few punctured walls. There were more than four walls on this building. Although it was light, inside of the building was absolutely dark. Too many openings for that to be possible.

But he took notice of something else that was peculiar. It either amazed him or struck him hard. Again, he found the answer to the question. This time, he wasn't proud that he did.

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com



	12. Concern and Remorse

Concern and Remorse

The wind had died down earlier, but now it returned more violently than ever. This time, bones, flesh, rocks, and even boulders ascended into the sky and traveled alongside the wind. A tornado, no. Nothing moved in a circular motion. Tornadoes hadn't even been seen on the surface of Meatsei since dawn, and had disappeared once the sun was fully in the sky. It wasn't a hurricane either. Wind was accompanied only by flying objects. It was just a bad case of a blistery day. 

A very bad case of a blistery day. It was the worst that Panboukin had ever experience. He hated it. Mix that up with the tremendous heat, and it was even worse. Dodging boulders wasn't too difficult after having at least some experience at dodging energy attacks, but then again, one of the blows that had weakened him during the fight with the assassins was an energy attack right to his gut. 

He tried not to think about it. He didn't ** want** to think about it. It lowered his confidence and it distracted him too much. When the second realization hit him, he decided to not think about anything at all. Just concentrate on the unnecessary objects in the sky. That was the most important thing at the moment. 

But Panboukin's reason out here was not the same as the others. All he had to do was follow the direction that one of them went --he didn't care who-- and go as fast as he could until he caught up with them. What he wanted to do was not to aide either of them in the search. He didn't want to talk to either of them. He was tired, yes, but he was also bored. So he couldn't get any sleep like Toma instructed him to do. But after the disagreement they had, of course he would disregard the order and do whatever he pleased. After all, that's just how he was with his comrades. 

A small breath of air escaped from his mouth, quickly followed by a loud curse as Panboukin barely managed to duck from a flying pelvis of a Meatsei-jin. Would he have to deal with this for entire three or more hours during the search? He knew he would have to. He had no choice. The wind was just natural and there's nothing he could do to prevent it from coming. But it was just too much! Especially with a thought creeping to his mind involuntarily. 

Panboukin didn't want to think about it, either. All he wanted to concentrate on --well, not exactly wanted to, but he had to pay attention so he wouldn't make himself bleed even more-- was the obstacle in front of him. A controversial topic could blind him to the extreme so that his fate will be no different than the female's. Whatever Celipa's fate was. No one knew where she was. And it was all... 

He immediately ceased that thought once he saw a figure in front of him. Not a dead figure, luckily. The attire was awfully familiar. And the hairstyle was one of a kind among the Saiya-jin. He smirked as he started to speed up, trying to get side by side with him. 

"Been looking for you," Panboukin told the other smugly as he snuck up next to him. 

"I thought I told you to stay back at the landing site," Toma scowled, but he actually seemed relieved. It was well read in his eyes. The rest of his body showed no signs of his elation though, and none of his actions backed up the gleam in his eyes. Toma let out an exasperated sigh and looked back to the ground, continuing his quest. "What do you want?" 

"I was wondering if-" Panboukin was cut short as both quickly moved out of the way of a extremely large piece of building. Then he had to dodge another boulder before he was able to reunite with Toma. Instead of continuing the previous sentence, Panboukin started an entirely new one. "You go back and get rest. I don't need it that much. You do. You're the one who's crabby." 

"Okay," Toma grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "So now I'm crabby. Funny. You can look for her too, you know. No one really has to stay at the landing site." 

"So why did you tell me too?" Panboukin retorted hotly. He glanced to the ground himself with a hopeful aura rising from his body as he started to do what he came here to do. "The quicker this is done, the better. Damn it, I'm starved." 

"That came out of nowhere," the sub-leader pointed out, letting out a vague chuckle. All of a sudden he stopped and floated quickly to the ground. He made no movements for Panboukin to follow, but he knew that he should go after Toma anyway. Once they both have landed and were clear from the flying debris, the conversation continued. "You were the first to come back during the search for Bardock's pod. Why are you now asking to help?" 

"Boredom," Panboukin answered simply with a tiny shrug. "You told me to stay before. I'm sick of the same scenery. Besides, I've had plenty of rest already. You had none. You go back. I'd hate for you to find Celipa in the mood you're in." 

Toma was silent for a while, giving his companion a skeptical look. He seemed to be in deep thought, probably wondering what exactly Panboukin was thinking. Or planning. After a minute or so, he exhaled, as if he had been holding his breath for the longest time. "All right," Toma murmured. "Be back at the landing site in three hours." 

Panboukin smirked as a confirmation. He took off without a second thought, without a second glance behind him. Only one thought was in his mind, the same one as the night before: _"It's about time!"_

* * *

Death may have weakened him greatly, but determination never failed him. Whenever there was a job he set himself out to do, he completed it. A long time ago Totepo concentrated on actually getting it done the right way. There was no time limit. He had help from his comrades. It was fun. Now, he had to get it done as quickly as possible carefully with no help whatsoever. It certainly was not fun at all. But he had to do it. No matter how hard it was, he knew he had to. 

Perhaps if he was more used to lifting boulders and throwing them around, this wouldn't be such gruesome work. In fact, if Totepo had even lifted many boulders at once away from a pile, maybe then this wouldn't be as sweat breaking as it was now. He had never been forced to be a crane, and the time never came for him to be one. The thought of him doing something like this never entered his mind. Well, here he was now, digging for another's life. 

He didn't have to do this. But he wanted to. He felt the need to. Sure, it wasn't fun, but there was something behind those hands that kept tossing the rocks aside. Onlookers may think of it as concern. But it wasn't that. It wasn't that. 

* * *

_It couldn't be possible. It had to be a dream. Some sort of a really bad dream! With the pain he felt, however, he knew that could not be so. He wished it was a dream. Two have died. No more needed to. No more. _

_Totepo's scouter was gone now as was everyone else's, except for one lying on the ground some distance away from these assassins. Their last hope for help, for an alert. For something. Clarification, maybe? But he couldn't get to it. He was too far away and those four assassins would notice him. They'd probably destroy the scouter, too._

_He quickly stole a glance to his companion, who still held the dead Saiya-jin in his arms. It was obvious he refused to believe that she was dead and was clearly doing anything he could to get her to respond to his actions. Totepo had already accepted the fact as much as he hated to believe it. She was just as dead as the other who had died not so long ago just before she arrived. _

_Just in case, he shifted his eyes over to view the assassins. They were still sneering. Was this some sort of sick joke? Some play they decided to do out of sheer boredom? The confusion only angered him more and more. He couldn't stand it. This triggered another bomb as he prepared to attack them once more, but before he could do anything or even move a step, he took notice of the assassin's next attack. One that could surely kill. _

_He was about to shout out to his companion --a warning-- but it was too late. The assassin fired. Luckily the beam of light didn't travel fast enough for him not to notice it in time. He glanced up from the limp figure that he held up in his forearms and did not hesitate to dodge the attack. He threw the young female on the rocks in front of him and tried to jump out of the way, but in mid-leap his leg got caught in the middle of the energy beam. It seemed to have caused no harm, though. _

_Totepo could do nothing but watch as Toma rolled on the ground. He flipped and rolled on the ground until all momentum was lost and he lied on the ground, trying to catch his breath. Two seconds later, the Saiya-jin was climbing back to his feet, ready to face off against the assassins with all the rage he carried in his body. _

_Before a move could be made by either of them, before a sound could be made, another attack came. One assassin --the horned one-- flew and landed his heel into the Saiya-jin's chest. He also released his fists to a massive attack on him. Toma had no time to defend himself. Totepo was about to interfere, but the assassin sped back to the others, seeming quite satisfied. _

_The Saiya-jin the assassin had been beating up on was in a very bad condition now. All because of an extremely low move by the assassin. Toma had been knocked out cold and now any chances of defeating the other workers of Freeza vanished. But revenge was revenge. He enjoyed it and he will get it. Now Totepo will get his chance at a fight. It was time to avenge his comrades. _

_He lifted off and charged, ready to show no mercy. If they didn't, he wouldn't. Simple as that. But fury killed him. His own fury. Before he could get two feet away from his four new enemies, a hard force pushed against his face. He was thrown back into a piece of a building. No time to think of anything. He died right then and there. _

* * *

"Don't. I can... do this." 

To show that he was correct, Totepo momentarily let her go. Celipa staggered and almost fell on her face, but he managed to catch her before she did. Small drops of red liquid met the ground, almost like sweat being splattered against a waxed floor. She grabbed hold of his shoulder to steady her, and then let go to show that she could stand, walk, run, and fly without any help. She fell again, but this time he moved in front of her so that she could have a place to crash. 

"I'm... fine. You don't-" 

"Shush. Just relax. You'll be fine." 

Before an argument could be made, he took off to the sky, leaving behind a mess of blood and crumbled rock. Well, it's not like anyone was coming back to this place anyway. 

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com/



	13. Celipa's Arrival

Celipa's Arrival

The four holes in the middle of the open rectangular board were in almost perfect shape. Sure, some stray particles were left around the area, but overall it was very clear. The items that had created the holes were still located where they have been for many years already. All except for three. One of them was back, but not in the hole. The four materials that actually caused those ditches were still there, though. 

The atmosphere that the Saiya-jin was letting off was not a good one. It was not a specific feeling --angered yet relieved, exhausted yet with high spirits-- but it was still not one to be messed around with. The overall emotion, the one he felt the most, was frustration. When he was extremely frustrated, it was never a pretty sight for anyone. 

Luckily that was not the case. Toma wasn't extremely upset at all. He was only at the halfway point. Still, he wanted to take out his fury on something since no one was around for him to yell at, no one around to calm him down. He already kicked and slammed and blasted a lot of rocks. It helped. It made him feel better. Now he was in a state of languor. Mixed emotions unconsciously never left him. Still frustrated, but at least he's no longer showing it. 

Imagine all the actions the sub-leader did, times two. That was what happened whenever he became too frustrated. Luckily, it only happened once on a planet that was desolated. A long story of how that happened, but it wasn't too important anyway. 

Toma's feelings now and earlier came from his previous feelings before he switched spots with Panboukin. Like how he was feeling the emotions he was now, they came without a warning. He didn't want to feel them. But they arrived and dominated him, taking over all his senses. It could be the reason why Toma felt frustrated earlier; he couldn't control it. It angered him to the extreme. Before, he was always careful with his feelings and how he expressed them. Now it seemed to be the most difficult task he had ever done. He failed at it. 

"Damn," he mumbled irritably. There was only one rock left untouched. It was a perfect chair with one very smooth surface with an edged semicircle surrounding it. He sat on it and leaned over so that his elbows and knees met. He rested his forehead on both of his palms, staring at the sandy ground. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn." 

Toma despised the fact that he could only say one word over and over again. However, he needed to silence the quietness that had generated. He dared not say anything that was in his mind or anything not in his mind. Speaking his feelings without mentioning his feelings was the best way --and the only way he could find-- to make noise, without seeming like a fool like when he did while heading over to Bardock's spacepod landing site. No one rubbed it in though --that is, Totepo didn't; no one else had been around-- and he had not reminded him of it. Totepo still knew. No chance in Hell would Toma ever do **that** again. 

Once he grew bored of "damn" he reverted to "shit" and repeated that word. Soon after a very vulgar word arose signaling his anger's current temperature. The pattern went on until he ended it with a very loud outburst of, "God damn it!" 

He stood up sharply, hands now balled into the tightest fist imaginable. Worse than the female's had been previously, but no blood was shed. His teeth were near the verge of cracking. He breathed like an angry bull and narrowed his eyes so that they were like a skinny rail compared to an ocean liner. His dark pupils moved from the ground and rolled over to the boulder behind him. Relieving his jaw from pressure he puffed out a breath of warm air and prepared to spin and kick or punch or do **something** to this rock! 

Luckily his eye caught a white aura coming his way before he could do anything at all. Astonishment washed up on his shore. "It's only been two hours! Not three," he muttered. Toma shook his head, and then growled, "That damned bastard. Giving up so soon!" 

The sub-leader folded his arms gruffly, easing his scowl to a normal, irritated one. Toma blamed this man coming back for having bad time management. For being tired. For putting this mission off for a while. He always trusted his comrades, so it baffled him that one of them was already returning. He knew that they knew that this situation was way too serious for them to play around with. Hell, even Panboukin wanted to help out! And this had nothing to do with fighting, killing, or socializing. So why was one of them --most likely Panboukin himself-- returning when the time limit hadn't even gone past yet? 

Suddenly, yet gradually, Toma's frown transformed to a deep smirk. His tight grip on his upper arms released and was now only lightly touching his skin. His shoulders fell a couple millimeters. His whole entire body eased up when he saw the direction this man was coming from. It was not the way he took when he left for the job, therefore it couldn't be Panboukin. Since Totepo never gave up on anything until all hope was lost, and even then he'd still push himself harder, that could only mean one or two things. 

"He did it," Toma chuckled with triumph. "Finally." 

He waited patiently with anxiety, keeping his eyes locked on to the aura. Already it had grown five times larger from when he first noticed it. If the other Saiya-jin was coming back with news, hopefully of Celipa's whereabouts, where was the second aura? There was only one. According to the sub-leader's theory, there should be another one right behind the first. But there wasn't. Toma's brows made contact as he mumbled a question of concern and uncertainty. 

Several seconds later a figure could be made out, and sure enough it was Totepo. The sub-leader inhaled loudly, showing his nervous concern. Not so long afterwards Totepo descended from the sky with the same blank expression he's always worn. Toma straightened his back and lowered his shoulders, biting his lower lip from the inside of his mouth. He hated the way things were looking now and he pondered what had happened to her and why? 

Once Totepo landed safely to his feet, Toma looked at him straight in the eye. The taller Saiya-jin showed no signs of panic or distress. His eyes read no melancholy. Bewilderment struck Toma hard, and in a menacing voice he demanded, "Well? What happened to her? Is she-" 

Words did not cut him off. The balding man leaned forward, and another figure rolled from his back and straight into his arms. Sure enough, it was the once missing female. Toma could not say anything but stare in complete shock. She was unconscious. He could tell that she wasn't dead; if she were then no puffs of air could be seen, no pumping of her chest. But they were there, as subtle as it could get. 

Toma was both amazed and shocked that Celipa was still alive in the state she was in. There were rivers of blood pouring from various places on her body, dripping onto the ground and the skin of the Saiya-jin holding her. They had already stained her bodysuit to maroon, but there were many rips and tears across it as well. Despite the shredded clothing and most of her body not even covered at all, there were only very few places where he could find skin untouched. She wasn't covered in blood but in dirt. Toma just couldn't believe it. He had never seen anyone like this. Even Bardock never looked this bad after missions! 

"Totepo, what happened?" Toma queried in a low voice, his gaze still locked on the battered body of the female. He struggled for something to say without sounding sentimental, but just couldn't. But he realized that he no longer cared about his pride or reputation. "How did she? How did you-" 

"What happened, I don't know," Totepo answered in the same volume as the other, but steady and unemotional at the same time. Toma took a step forward and offered to let her off of his hands, which Totepo took the opportunity to do. After he had a good hold on Celipa, Totepo dropped his arms to his sides, not bothering to wipe off the blood. "It looked as though she ran into some sort of attack. Pieces of the Meatsei-jin's building did this to her." 

"How?" Toma mumbled, dropping his knees to the ground. He examined everything he could of her, but soon realized that he needed to wipe her up before he could. Totepo never said anything else and just watched silently, his expressions never changing. The sub-leader reached for his upper left arm, but his hands only touched skin. He glanced at it and noticed that it was gone. The cloth that had once adorned his arm was no longer there. "Damn it." 

After a few seconds of quiet thinking, Toma exhaled a gallon of air and closed his eyes lightly. When he reopened them he didn't hesitate any moment longer. He threw her up onto his shoulder and stood solemnly, glancing back up at his comrade coldly. "Let's wait an hour for Panboukin. When he gets back, let's hurry up and go home. I don't know how much longer she'll last." 

"He'll be back in an hour? What if he isn't?" 

"Then, as much as I hate it, we'll leave without him," Toma answered, his face gone serious and stern. Totepo had the expression that he expected this emotion and just nodded. The sub-leader continued on without a second thought. "I'm not sure if she'll even stay alive for another hour." 

Totepo nodded again firmly and the sub-leader did the same. Toma walked off towards Celipa's spacepod carrying her on his shoulder solemnly, but stopped abruptly after hearing Totepo's sudden suggestion. 

"You go ahead and take her back to Vegetasei. I'll stay until Panboukin returns and catch up with you. What's the use now of going back together if she might be dead once we return?" 

Toma closed his eyes and sighed again, knowing that --as always-- Totepo had a good point and ultimately was right. He didn't have a good argument of staying until Panboukin returned, so he made no disagreements. He reopened his eyes, leaving tiny slits and a very small and tight frown on his lower half of his face. "Very well then. I'll see you back home. Be back on Vegetasei as quickly as you can, alright?" 

"I will," he promised in monotone. Toma glanced at the Saiya-jin on his shoulder and smiled, saying that not only was she always one to be surprised easily, but was always one to give surprises out. What he didn't say was that she always gave bad surprises and that this one was the worst of the lot. 

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi ][1]website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com/



	14. Battle of the Boulders

Battle of the Boulders

The weather was overwhelming before. The heat was overwhelming before. Now that is was well after noon, one would expect that all the heat would be gone, or at least simmering away. Instead, the heat was blown up from a temperature that Panboukin had gotten used to to a temperature that was a little too devastating for him. His pores finally overflowed and started to slide down his skin, but luckily the wind of his flight and the wind of the planet helped to flick the water off of him. But the wind of the planet did more than that. It cut his skin. Fortunately, only little --perhaps, in some cases, none at all-- blood escaped.

The journey was no easier because of this. It only added more ingredients to his frustration. There were others, of course, such as his failed attempt on locating the female. Oh, Panboukin knew he could make up for it later, and he doubted that anyone else was just as successful. He would just go out for a second time in a row. After all, now he was too pumped up with energy to rest again.

Perhaps Totepo was the one who deserves a break. He was the one who asked no questions or argued whenever Toma wanted something to be done. He had been awake for the longest time of them all if the female found a place to sleep for a while. He already carried out one of the searches successfully, so now it was someone else's turn. Totepo will be able to take a break and sleep. Hopefully Toma wouldn't argue with that suggestion.

Would he argue? He had changed rapidly since the last time the crew was alive so much that he was almost unpredictable. Whenever someone else was angered he just backed up and made a joke about it or just ignored it. He never had lost his carefree spirit so easily. Whenever he had news he waited until he was asked, never until the people he wanted were around so he wouldn't have to repeat it, especially if he knew time was running out. Did he know this time?

The thing that irked Panboukin the most was the fact that the sub-leader was blaming others for mistakes that affected someone else instead of themselves. Toma used to only blame people for flaws and recklessness that affected the person who made the mistake. Maybe if Panboukin hadn't pointed out that they could've just gone back to Vegetasei first, that wouldn't have happen. But he did. Now Toma was putting that against him.

Toma blamed him for Celipa's disappearance.

Panboukin knew for sure that it wasn't **his** fault. The argument between Celipa and Toma was what caused the separation in the first place. He could say that it was the woman's fault for everything --she never argued, always gave in-- but it wasn't. Toma suggested the separation out of anger, which was something he had never done before. And now because of his rash decision, Celipa just might be...

No she was not! She was too strong to give up like that. She carried much more strength then any normal low-level soldier, and much more willpower than that of an elite. She would never let go of the threads without a fight. That was something that all four of the men valued in her and one of the reasons why Bardock let her stay in the crew in the first place.

What on this planet can hold her down or even take her life? Exhaustion from the heat was a lame excuse. The flying objects in the air were a reasonable explanation --for a weakling. And that was something she was not. He was easily avoiding them, but of course, he was keeping a close watch too. So what could it be?

He let out a small laugh. This wasn't something he was used to doing. The only one who ever showed this much concern for any of his comrades was the sub-leader himself. At least that was something he still held true to himself. Was that a good thing or bad?

For once, it may be a very good thing.

Panboukin wasn't exactly sure how long it has been, but he figured it had been long enough to be heading back to the landing site now. He didn't have an internal clock running through his brain, and he usually lost count of time if he wasn't concentrating on it. Besides, he could only focus his thoughts on one thing at a time. No more, no less. Of course the only thing he was concentrating on was what the sub-leader would hope he was concentrating on.

A wild guess is better then being safe, right? Besides, it may have been over three hours already. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, so he couldn't rely on his shadow. So he was heading back now. No later and no sooner.

Just in case he was a little early, he decided to enjoy the landscape. There was nothing wrong with a little leisure after some hard work. There was still a bitter taste to this. The land was dotted with debris of buildings. The air was sprinkled with rubble. All this damage that had been caused was the last thing they ever did before they died. He wondered if they really should have waited for Bardock to be healed before leaving Vegetasei. Things would have been different, wouldn't they?

His river of thoughts drifted away once he spotted a new obstacle for him to pass. It didn't seem like much; it was only a tornado. It was a swift and rowdy tornado at that, and if he chose the wrong direction the results could be fatal.

"These things are really becoming a nuisance," Panboukin muttered with much annoyance, taking a random direction from the tornado. He wasn't thinking clearly about this; if he was then he would study the direction of the tornado and make an educated guess. That wasn't his nature, though. He always just went with the flow.

A normal person would say that what happened next was to be expected. The sub-leader would say that he was just being careless again. Panboukin would say that he was thinking of something else. The swirling winds abruptly jerked towards him, the tinier fragments of buildings sharply hitting his skin. He angrily shifted his pupils towards the cyclone in response.

"Aw, shit," he muttered as he saw that it was only a few more seconds before he was eaten up by it.

Panboukin fired himself forward, not wanting to stray any further from the straight line he was going in. He knew that it was best that he went as the crow flies so that he would be back at the landing site quicker and so there was no chance that he could get lost. On a desolate planet like this, that was highly possible. The tornado was the only thing that was making it difficult. It was heading the same way he was, not the opposite direction like he assumed.

So there were more challenges. He should be happy about it, but instead he was very annoyed, especially when the cyclone managed to catch up with him.

It seemed as if it was following him, but wind had no mind of its own. For that, he took as a very good sign. That would mean that he would be able to change the wind's direction and not have to worry about it anymore. Sure, he could just ignore it, but there were so many boulders and rubble that he didn't want to risk it. He didn't want to risk any of the crew worrying about him; only the commander and the female were allowed to be sympathized for. Not him. Besides, that would give Toma a new reason to taunt him all the time. That was the last thing Panboukin wanted.

So again, he jetted in the air so he would only be roughly around ten feet away from the twister. Once he stopped he spun around in a semicircle, his fist carrying a bright light ready to be fired. He jerked his elbow back behind him and drifted another couple feet away from the tornado as it kept coming closer. The Saiya-jin's upper and lower teeth made contact, and he thrust his entire arm forward, releasing the enlarged beam. 

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. The best he did was getting rid of five or six boulders rotating around the cyclone and disintegrated many smaller pebbles. The portions of the beam that didn't hit anything at all just whizzed through the tornado making no changes to its specified route. At least now it seemed as if the wind was heading in a certain direction. 

There was not time to praise the cyclone for that, though. Before the Saiya-jin could even mutter a curse at his ineffective attempt to change the tornado's trajectory, it stopped. Just like that. The boulders dropped to the ground roughly and the spiral shape of the wind tore in two and dispersed quickly. All was silent except for the passing breeze whistling past the broken buildings across the landscape.

Panboukin just floated there for a couple seconds, gaping at the sudden change in weather. He didn't know much about atmospheric changes or anything of the sort, but he did know that tornadoes weren't supposed to abruptly stop like that. Wasn't it supposed to slowly fade away or grow smaller and smaller before it disappeared? Either way, he knew he'd best get back to the landing site soon. Getting distracted by natural weather was not a good excuse for being even a little late.

Still, the evaporation of the cyclone was still very awkward. That was the new thought on his mind. Why did it do that? Why did the tornado stop? It had no mind of its own. It really couldn't be on a specified course. It was just a formation of wind! There was nothing controlling it, especially with the molding of the Meatsei-jins' technology --if they had any.

Luckily for him and his new river of thoughts, he ran into no more swirling winds or rough obstacles for the rest of the journey.

* * *

The gods took care of him easily. The traitor was now back in his rightful position in Hell and was put into a more heavily guarded portion of the afterlife. So the Resurrector knew that he wouldn't be coming back Up for a long time. Now he may concentrate on a certain quartet and make sure they weren't getting themselves killed.

Tough luck. It seemed that after their argument they had a hard time reuniting with one another, and one of them was on the near verge of death. It was not anybody's fault down there. Whatever it was that attacked her wouldn't have done much damage if he had been more careful when reviving her neurological system, so he could rightfully say it was ** his** fault. He was going to make sure that she won't die on him again, though. It was easy to do --after all, it wasn't breaking any rules-- but it was also just as hard as resurrecting a person.

There may be a lot of rules, but none of them ever said anything about giving living people more stamina to hold themselves up. It was the most he could do without straining himself into fatigue mode. It wasn't easy, but at least it was much less complicated than spending most of one's time to keep a person alive and keeping an eye out for other three Saiya-jins at the same time.

He slowly and carefully submitted a little bit of his strength towards the female. A little bit surely wasn't enough, but it should keep her breathing until the four of them reached a planet that had excellent medical facilities.

How long would that take? Hopefully not very.

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com



	15. A New Revival

A New Revival

Totepo could have been mistaken as a statue: tall, proud, still, yet solemn. There wasn't anything else he could do except stand about ten feet away from the four spacepods, waiting almost unwearyingly for Panboukin to return. It should be any minute now; after all, he was keeping track of time and it was well over an hour since Totepo had returned with the wounded Celipa. That was the reason why his wait wasn't with total patience. Well one of two, anyway. The other reason struck the sub-leader and him hard with bewilderment. Probably Toma the hardest.

Toma and Celipa had not yet departed for Vegetasei. Toma had tried to, but he seemed to be quite stunned when he tried to make the female's spacepod lift off. Totepo knew he had set the coordinates right; he even checked for himself. The computer was not malfunctioning. Both of the men tried it with the other three pods and sure enough, and all four of them indicated that their home planet could not be located. A glitch in all four computers was impossible.

Totepo knew that the worst that could have happened. He wasn't sure if Toma knew, but he didn't want to point it out to him that Vegetasei was gone.

Therefore, Celipa had a very slim chance of surviving because of the fact that there was nowhere to go. Both Toma and Totepo knew it was a miracle that she has lasted as long as she did so far.

Neither of them had a clue of where they could go or what they could do to make sure she would stay alive until they reached a planet with medical supplies. The best they could do at the moment was watch over her and give her support, which was what Toma was doing right now. He figured it was his responsibility, he admitted to the taller Saiya-jin, since Totepo already helped her and the crew more than he needed to. Now it was his turn. Totepo heard exactly what he didn't say but didn't dare tell him that. Perhaps Toma finally grasped the truth.

What was a mystery before was now a theory. With Toma's permission, Totepo had left back to the place where he had found Celipa. The place where only one building was standing --the last building remaining untouched. Totepo had stood back, in case the Meatsei-jin kept a surprise attack in the building that was turned on by motion. He had thrown a couple rocks and singeing rays, but nothing happened.

Just when he was about to approach the building to inspect further, something quite peculiar happened. The building broke into five large pieces separating a good distance while a large gust of wind was released. He had to shield himself with a large boulder, therefore he missed a lot that could've happened. When he was sure the winds had stopped --no more flying objects around, no more whistling or howling-- he glanced around the setting. Oddly enough, there was no difference from before. The building was put back together perfectly and the surrounding debris was kept almost the same.

Just because of that oddity, Totepo swore to himself that he would never attempt to study a dead race's structure, even if it is for answers. He returned to the landing site with fifteen minutes to spare.

Back to the present time, he was quite satisfied when he saw the large figure of Panboukin flying closer to the spacepods. Satisfied wasn't even half of what he felt, either. He was relieved. Now the four of them could discuss the sticky situation they were in and hopefully find a way out. Because Totepo, like Toma, hadn't a clue of where they could head, but hopefully Panboukin would have a good idea. Totepo was very much optimistic that he did, but certainly not at all doubtful. After all, Totepo did hear somewhere that two heads was better than one.

"No luck?" Panboukin questioned once he landed in front of Totepo. His face was close to flooded with concern and an obvious attempt to hide his emotions. Maybe the tall Saiya-jin hadn't been hallucinating in the past; Celipa probably did have something with both Toma and Panboukin. The overweight Saiya-jin never in his entire life had that look on his face.

"Actually, I did find her," Totepo answered solemnly, not mentioning a thing about what he was thinking. "But we have three problems to deal with, all of them concerning her, one of them concerning all of us and all Saiya-jin."

Panboukin looked reassured when he heard the first sentence, his shoulders dropping and a large breath of air escaping his mouth. Once he heard the next sentence, however, his brows burrowed deep into his skin, obviously having no desire to deal with anymore obstacles. He shook his head irritably, waving his hand for his companion to continue. "Go ahead. Shoot."

Totepo just stared at him apathetically, not making a move of hesitation or thought. "It might be easier if you ** saw** the first problem first."

* * *

If it wasn't for her chest pumping up and down, Toma would have thought of her as deceased. In fact, he would have claimed her dead and just leave her be at once in the state she was. He would even go as far as putting her very far back into his mind. That was something he would like to do right now, really. It was too hard for him to look at her much less even touch her. Luckily, he was able to keep a straight face instead of making it change along with his thoughts that flew past.

Toma was as far away as he could allow himself from Celipa, but also as close as the spacepod permitted him to get to her. She was sleeping in her velvet chair inside the tiny ship, the top of her head slumped down to the padded wall. Because of her slanted position and because of the size of her pod, there was only room for one person. So he was sitting outside up against the exterior, peering inside with great apprehension.

Toma's left arm was the only part of his body that was actually inside the spherical craft. He wanted to touch her to make sure this wasn't a very bad dream. But he couldn't bring himself out to actually complete that task. It wasn't the blood that had him worried; after all, his armor and skin was already splattered with some of her dark red liquid. The sub-leader was more afraid that his fingers would land on a gash on her body and infect the wound more than it already had been by the dirt of the planet. He did not want to be the cause for a death quicker than it was supposed to be.

His fingers finally curled around a golden ornament hanging from her ear and was able to lift a corner of his mouth up as he stared at it. She wasn't at all materialistic, but he knew that she treasured these earrings so much that she never took them off. Personally, Toma couldn't see why. This piece of jewelry was not rare at all; all the females on Vegetasei wore it. And all it really was was a scrap of metal!

Perhaps it was something else about women that he would never understand. Even after many years of being close friends with one, he still couldn't comprehend why members of the female sex did what they did.

Suddenly, she stirred quietly, tilting her head further from his hand. Toma sighed in relief --he was glad to see that her chances of surviving will be higher now-- and pulled his hand away. He quietly watched as she fell limp again, but this time her closed eyes narrowed and her breathing pattern was quicker than normal. Celipa was awake now. She was just very unaware of her surroundings, that Toma was certain of. He couldn't blame her; it was like that for everyone who was out of it for a while --even if it only was for an hour.

Celipa furrowed her brows, which was accompanied by a soft moan. Her head shook as a prologue to her awakening; at least to those who didn't know she was conscious already, if any had been around. Her eyes blinked open, and her irises moved around to inspect her environment. Toma only watched. He wasn't even sure if she would be happy to see him considering the argument that they had the night before.

He realized that he needed to speak to her once he saw her try to sit up. Just by moving her hip joints, her entire body tensed, her facial features scrunching together in apparent pain. "You really shouldn't move," he warned her quietly, trying to sound as calm and reasonable as he could get.

Celipa let go of the tension upon hearing his voice, and slumped against the back of her chair. She exhaled, but didn't seem at all happy. "Toma," she whispered coarsely. He winced at the sound of her voice. It was too weak, and it expressed her pain all too well. Luckily, she was still able to croak out her question: "Are we still on Meatsei?"

"Yes," he answered with more regret than he intended to have, "we're still on Meatsei."

"Why?"

It was a question that he could not answer. She wanted to know why they were not on Vegetasei, not specifically why they were still on this hellhole of a planet. Toma knew why, of course. He was the one who tried to get to their home planet, but the computer's radar detected nothing. He did not understand, though, and he wasn't exactly sure how to break the news to her. If it was too confusing for him, then how will it be to her? Unless she was correct about her faith in Bardock...

"The pod refused to lift off when I set the coordinates for home," he informed her, turning his gaze to the window of the spacepod. "Totepo confirmed that I set it right. And we even checked it on the other pods. Nothing. There's nothing there. I guess you were right."

"Right? About what?" Celipa asked with much puzzlement. Toma wasn't even sure if what she spoke was actually two individual sentences. But he continued on, needing to say what he felt she had to hear.

"Bardock," he answered brusquely, eyes still locked on the door. "I know what you were probably thinking. I had too much confidence in him. I know overconfidence in yourself can be fatal but I never imagined that overconfidence in a companion was-"

"It's not," she snapped, truncating his sentence. Toma stared back at her with an inquisitive expression worn. Celipa was sitting up again now, leaning closer towards him. Her forearm was put against her thighs, lightly though as to not inflict more pain on herself. Her voice was still abrasive, but at least she wasn't pausing every five syllables. "What I was thinking during that argument was nothing of the sort. I was angry at you for being narrow-minded. I never lost trust in Bardock nor will I ever. Toma, I've always known you to look at facts before coming to conclusions. That was something you didn't do earlier."

A fleeting pause. "I never did tell you **why** we were killed, did I?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just listen. I think it might help you realize why I wanted Bardock to get off this planet so bad..."

* * *

He could tolerate hunger. He could tolerate outrageously riotous weather. But Panboukin could not handle being hit with three --no, he had better make that **four** pieces of bad news in five minutes! They were so dreadful that he couldn't decide which one was the worst of them all.

Celipa was mortally injured. Freeza, now damned a traitor, demanded that all the Saiya-jin to be killed. Vegetasei was not detectable on the computers. There was a building with sophisticated technology that released wind on some sort of a time schedule. Finally, the high risk of being killed again by heading towards the Planet Trade Headquarters. All right, so it was five problems, possibly more. Nonetheless, he understood everything Toma and Totepo told him, and he knew that everything connected with each other.

If Freeza wanted to kill all the Saiya-jin, then he must've gotten rid of all off-planet and destroyed the ones on Vegetasei. Meaning that ** he** demolished Vegetasei, and that's why the computers could not detect it. Only Freeza, Zarbon, and Dodoria probably knew about it, so if they were to go to one of the headquarters where they were staying it could mean their second deaths. If the rest of the entire Planet Trade knew, then it would be no use. The Saiya-jin were destined to die once again.

Celipa was in a desperate need of medical help, despite the fact that she claimed she didn't feel like she was dying. The only place they could go with reliable medical equipment was the headquarters. So they had to go to the planet to at least ** try** to allow her to live. They owed her that much.

Panboukin also knew how the woman was put into the condition she was currently in. Totepo told them about his episode with the place where he had found her. So it was only logical that the strange reactions of this building caused her injuries. At least that was something easily solved.

"We have no choice," Panboukin pointed out to his two companions. The three males were standing out of the crater in a triangle, conversing some of the past events and what they needed to do now. "We have to go there. We need to take that risk."

"Well, we are supposed to be a bunch of risk-takers, right?" Toma agreed with Panboukin with a dry smirk. "The only thing we really have to fear is Celipa dying on us before we even reach the planet."

"Which she won't," Panboukin slid in. Toma and Totepo nodded their agreement. The whole idea of going back to the headquarters was Celipa's idea, after all. She wouldn't suggest it if she knew she would die before they made it.

After a few moments of silence, Toma finally spoke up again with his voice of authority. He was still, after all, the sub-leader. "Very well. We'll go to HQ. I hope that the idea of killing the Saiya-jins was kept a secret. Otherwise, what's the use of even bothering saving Celipa's life?"

And with that, the decision was unanimous. What's more, all four of them at that instant --even with Celipa sleeping in her pod-- had regained a very important value that they had to hold true to themselves for as long as they lived... the second time around.

**End of "An Amity Revived"  
Next Story: "Planet to Planet"**

* * *

Visit the [Hikari no Tabi][1] website!

   [1]: http://violentpeacefulchild.tripod.com/



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